Muhr Award winners celebrate as curtains begin to close on Dubai film festival

DUBAI // Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad had an ecstatic crowd on their feet at the Dubai International Film Festival’s Muhr Award ceremony on Friday night.

Rubber-stamping the festival programmer’s decision to open the 10th annual event with the highly anticipated Arab movie Omar, Abu Assad picked up Best Director and the film’s producer, Waleed Zuaiter, took Best Film.

A fitting tribute to the progress of filmmaking across the Arab world, the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker said he was “thrilled” to have opened and closed the festival.

“It is beyond what I could have expected,” he said. “But I am utterly thrilled with everything that is happening right now.”

Stars of the Arab world walked the red carpet before the prestigious awards ceremony began at the Madinat Arena theatre.

Other notable award winners, who each scooped a portion of a total prize fund of US$575,000 (Dh2.1 million), included Mohamed Khan’s Factory Girl, Lebanon’s Zeina Daccache for Scheherazade’s Diary and Ritesh Batra’s indie-feature The Lunchbox.

Khan, a prominent Egyptian director, collected the FIPRESCI award for Arab Feature while Best Actress went to Yasmine Raees for her role as leading lady in the Egyptian and UAE collaboration.

The FIPRESCI Arab Documentary went to Daccache for Scheherazade’s Diary and she also scooped a Special Mention prize in the Muhr Arab Documentary category.

The much-anticipated and one-time Oscar hopeful for India, The Lunchbox, was a hit, winning feature film debutant Ritesh Batra a Special Mention in the Muhr Asia/Africa Feature category, as well as Best Actor for Bollywood heavyweight Irrfan Khan.

The Muhr Asia/Africa Feature category’s Best Film award went to Ilo Ilo by director and producer Anthony Chen and producers Ang Hwee Sim and Wahyuni A Hadi. Best Actress in this category went to Singapore’s Yeo Yann Yann.

Jim Sheridan, president of the jury responsible for selecting winning film Omar, among others, said his experience at DIFF was something he would hold in his heart forever.

“It was fantastic being here,” he said. “The festival director and crew run a wonderful festival, which has impressed in every way. We were treated like royalty and, to be honest, I don’t want to leave.

“I never believed the stories of the mirage in the desert until I came to Dubai. I feel privileged to have had the chance to see through a window into a culture that is more open to the world than most realise.”

The Muhr Award entries have gone from strength to strength, with more than 3,500 submissions across the three categories – Emirati, Arab and Asia/Africa – this year.

In the Muhr Emirati section, Best Film was picked up by Abdullah Hasan Ahmed and Khalid Al Mahmood for La Tkhaleeny (Don’t Leave Me); Best Director went to Muna Al Ali for her 10-minute movie Concealment; the Special Jury Prize to producers Claudia Corbelli and Greg White for Al Jaara (The Neighbour), which had a script written by Nayla Al Khaja; and a Special Mention was given to Mohammad Fikree for the animated 40-minute movie Girl and It.

Earlier this week the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science, the organisation behind the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, announced DIFF had been selected as a qualifying festival for the short film category.

This was welcome news for filmmakers Bavi Yassi and Nore Maatala, for The Lost Voice, and Askhat Kuchinchirekov, for Gas Is Over, the winners in the Muhr Arab Short and Asia/Africa Short categories, respectively.

Shekhar Kapur, president of the Muhr Asia/Africa Features jury, said he was “proud” to have been a part of such an industry-changing festival.

“I hope as the Arab and Asia cultures come together, we appreciate what these filmmakers are doing even more,” he said. “This festival has the power to make the whole world understand about art and culture in this part of the world. Thank you for giving us these eight days, a collision of cultures. May DIFF continue in all its glory.”

newsdesk@thenational.ae

Full list of award winners:

Emirates NBD People’s Choice Award:

Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee for FROZEN – USA

Amal Al-Agroobi for THE BRAIN THAT SINGS - UAE

FIPRESCI:

FIPRESCI Short: Ahmed Yassin for ATFAL ALLAH (CHILDREN OF GOD) - Iraq, UK, Hungary

FIPRESCI Documentary: Zeina Daccache for SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY - Lebanon

FIPRESCI Feature: Mohammed Khan for FATAT EL MASNAA (FACTORY GIRL) - Egypt, UAE

Muhr Emirati:

Special Mention: Mohammad Fikree for GIRL & IT - UAE

Best Director: Muna Al Ali for CONCEALMENT - UAE

Special Jury Prize: Claudia Corbelli and Greg White for AL JAARA (THE NEIGHBOUR) - UAE

Best Film: Abdullah Hasan Ahmed and Khalid Al Mahmood for LA TKHALEENY (DON’T LEAVE ME) - UAE

Muhr AsiaAfrica:

Muhr AsiaAfrica Short:

Special Mention: Cédric Ido for TWAAGA - Burkina Faso, France

Best Director: Sandeep Ray for SHIRNO BAHU (THIN ARMS) - India

Special Jury Prize: Halla Kim for THE WAY BACK - South Korea

Best Film: Askhat Kuchinchirekov for BENZIN BITTI (GAS IS OVER) - Kazakhstan

Muhr AsiaAfrica Documentary:

Special Mention: Lynn Lee and James Leong for WUKAN: MINZU ZHI GUANG (WUKAN: THE FLAME OF DEMOCRACY) - Singapore

Best Director: Pin Pin Tan for TO SINGAPORE, WITH LOVE - Singapore

Special Jury Prize: Sara Rastegar for MES SOULIERS ROUGES (MY RED SHOES) - France

Best Film: Yoshiko Hashimoto and Shigeki Kinoshita for MATSURI NO UMA (THE HORSES OF FUKUSHIMA) - Japan

Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature:

Special Mention: Souleymane Démé for his role in GRIGRIS - France, Chad

Special Mention: Ritesh Batra for the screenplay of DABBA (THE LUNCHBOX) - France, Germany, India

Best Actress: Yeo Yann Yann for ILO ILO - Singapore

Best Actor: Irrfan Khan for DABBA (THE LUNCHBOX) - France, Germany, India

Best Director: Tsai Ming Liang for JIAO YOU (STRAY DOGS) - Taiwan, France

Special Jury Prize: Sepehr Seifi for MAHI VA GORBEH (FISH & CAT) - Iran

Best Film: Ang Hwee Sim, Anthony Chen, Wahyuni A. Hadi For ILO ILO - Singapore

Muhr Arab:

Muhr Arab Short:

Special Mention: Camille Salameh for his role in AKAR (TROUBLED WATERS) - Lebanon

Special Mention: Ahmed Yassin for ATFAL ALLAH (CHILDREN OF GOD) - Iraq, UK, Hungary

Best Director: Ali Cherri for THE DISQUIET - Lebanon, France

Special Jury Prize: Haider Rashid for THE DEEP - Iraq, Italy

Best Film: Bavi Yassin, Nore Maatala for DE VERLOREN STEM (THE LOST VOICE) - Belgium, Iraq

Muhr Arab Documentary:

Special Mention: Zeina Daccache for SCHEHERAZADE’S DIARY - Lebanon

Best Director: Salma El Tarzi for ELE BEHEB RABENA ERFAA EDOH LEFOOK (UNDERGROUND ON THE SURFACE) - Egypt

Special Jury Prize: Diala Kachmar and Carole Abboud for GUARDIANS OF TIME LOST - Lebanon, UAE

Best Film: Karim Amer for AL MIDAN (THE SQUARE) - USA, Egypt

Muhr Arab Feature:

Special Mention: Mohammed Amin Benamraoui for WADAAN CARMEN (ADIOS CARMEN) - Morocco, Belgium, UAE

Special Mention: Raouia for her roles in ROCK THE CASBAH - Morocco, France and SARIROU AL ASSRAR (PILLOW SECRETS) - Morocco, Qatar

Best Actress: Yasmine Raees for FATAT EL MASNAA (FACTORY GIRL) - Egypt, UAE

Best Actor: Hassan Badida for C’EST EUX LES CHIENS (THEY ARE THE DOGS) - Morocco

Best Director: Hany Abu Assad for OMAR - Palestine, UAE

Special Jury Prize: Nabil Ayouch for C’EST EUX LES CHIENS (THEY ARE THE DOGS) - Morocco

Best Film: Waleed Zuaiter for OMAR - Palestine, UAE.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”