Overview
The closing ceremony for Sharjah Film Platform featured the announcement of the awardees of best narrative, documentary and experimental films, selected by an international jury of filmmakers and film industry professionals.
The award for Best Narrative Film went to Cherries, directed by Dubravka Turic, with A Vacation, directed by Deniz Eroglu, receiving an honourable mention. I Have a Picture: Film No. 1001 in the Life of the Oldest Extra in the World, directed by Mohamed Zedan, was awarded Best Documentary Film, while A Stroll Down Sunflower Lane, directed by Mayye Zayed, was selected as Best Experimental Film.
A list of the jury members follows below:
• Jury for the Best Narrative Film:
Ali Mostafa (filmmaker, director and producer), Kong Rithdee (filmmaker and film critic) and Ghassan Salhab (screenwriter, film director and producer)
• Jury for the Best Documentary Film:
Jihan El Tahri (filmmaker and artist), Manthia Diawara (filmmaker, cultural theorist and art historian) and Lina Matta (Director of MBC 2, MBC 4, MBC Max and MBC Variety and Curator of ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema series)
• Jury for the Best Experimental Film:
Kamal Al Jafari (experimental filmmaker), Steven Cairns (Curator of Artists’ Film and Moving Image, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London) and Rania Stephan (filmmaker and video artist)
In its first edition this year, Sharjah Film Platform screened over 140 short and feature films from more than 40 countries.