‘Feathers’ by Egyptian director Omar Al-Zuhairi wins at Cannes Critics’ Week
The 115-minute film was among seven movies in the competition and tells the story of a magic trick that goes wrong at a children’s birthday party
Updated 15 July 2021
Mohammed Abu Zaid
CAIRO: “Feathers” by Egyptian director Omar Al-Zuhairi has won the Nespresso Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival's Critics’ Week.
The 115-minute film was among seven movies in the competition and tells the story of a magic trick that goes wrong at a children’s birthday party, with the authoritative father of the family turning into a chicken.
“Feathers” is an Egyptian-French-Dutch-Greek production and Al-Zuhairi’s first feature-length work.
It stars Demyana Nassar, Samy Bassiouny, Fady Mina Fawzy and Abo Sefen Nabil Wesa.
It was co-written with Ahmed Amer and co-produced by Juliette Lepoutre and Pierre Menahem through Still Moving, in partnership with Lagoonie Film Production, as well as Shahinaz Al-Akkad.
The Cairo International Film Festival congratulated Al-Zuhairi on his win, calling it “a great achievement for Egyptian cinema” as it was the first Egyptian film to win the award.
“Omar Al-Zuhairi is a director with a very special cinematic language and the project began around 2015 with an idea for him,” Amer told Arab News. “He had set the basic structure for the project according to his own style and language, and we worked together to develop the script for two years.
“It was my role as the main writer to develop the story and script, and within the framework of the cinematic language that the director seeks, some details were added to the main story. We wrote 10 scripts before Al-Zuhairi reconciled between the script and his directorial vision.”
REVIEW: ‘Andor’ ends on defiant, devastating high, is best ‘Star Wars’ series
Rather than big-picture heroics, ‘Andor’ looks at the minutiae
Tony Gilroy’s script could be ripped from real headlines today
Updated 7 sec ago
Shyama Krishna Kumar
DUBAI: In an era of recycled nostalgia and cookie-cutter franchise television, “Andor” has stood apart — an unflinching, cerebral, slow-burn rebellion against everything formulaic in “Star Wars.”
Its final season — the first three episodes are now available to stream on Disney+ — does not only stick the landing, it embeds itself in the emotional marrow of the galaxy far, far away, delivering arguably the most powerful conclusion to any “Star Wars” story to date.
Moving away from the big-picture heroics of the Jedi versus the evil Sith, “Andor” instead looks at the minutiae, immersing itself in the details of both sides of war: the cold machinery of oppression and the sacrificial cost of resistance.
Even as the rebellion reaches boiling point, audiences are treated to smaller, more personal moments.
There are the intricacies of a political wedding on Chandrila, a lunch scene involving an overbearing mother and her son’s new beau, and flashbacks to an adoptive father and his new daughter/mentee coming into their own.
The season especially spends time on the long-anticipated Ghorman Massacre, rendered in chilling, harrowing detail.
Fans have known about it in bits and pieces — a footnote in the birth of the Rebellion — but creator Tony Gilroy manages to turn it into a gut-punch, a brutal turning point that clarifies the stakes for the characters, and audience.
Written years before current political events, “Andor” feels eerily prescient. Its exploration of surveillance, radicalization, immigration, propaganda, and the erosion of civilian rights could be ripped from today’s headlines.
That is not accidental — Gilroy’s scripts are steeped in the rhythms of real revolutions, from the French Resistance and student revolts to modern authoritarian regimes.
The cast, once again, does a stellar job of bringing to life such a weighty script, involving significant time jumps and mounting stakes.
On the side of the resistance, we have Diego Luna (playing the titular Cassian Andor), Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen), Stellan Skarsgard (Luthen Rael) and Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau).
The imperial forces are represented by the excellent Denise Gough (playing imperial supervisor Dedra Meero) and Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), as well as Ben Mendelsohn, returning as Director Orson Krennic, a powerful Imperial official who reports directly to Emperor Palpatine.
With “Andor,” Gilroy and Luna have truly set the gold standard for what future “Star Wars” can be. Not just a space opera, but real stories of transformation and beauty.
Review: Watching ‘Hobal’ at the Saudi Film Festival was an immersive experience
Updated 23 min 37 sec ago
Jasmine Bager
DHAHRAN: Watching “Hobal” at the 11th Saudi Film Festival, hosted at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, was cathartic.
The setting in which the film was screened was significant. The cinema is close to Ithra’s Energy Exhibit, which allows visitors to explore the journey behind oil extraction and energy resources in the Kingdom on the very land where black gold was first discovered in 1938.
Attentive faces, bathed in the glowing light of the screen sat with popcorn-scented hands. Together, we embarked on a journey — both collective and deeply personal — without moving an inch.
“Hobal” tells the story of a Bedouin family, set in the early 1990s, living in extreme isolation, led by a paranoid patriarch (Ibrahim Al-Hasawi) who believes the end of times is near, and strongly forbids anyone from his family to venture into town.
The title, “Hobal,” is apt. It references a pre-Islamic figure whose word became gospel, offering deeper layers to the film’s exploration of power and belief.
The family’s situation intensifies when Rifa (Amal Sami), the teen girl, falls gravely ill with a highly contagious case of measles and is forced to isolate even further in a tent alone. Her anguished mother (Mila Al-Zahrani) is consumed with worry, but the men, under the strict guidance of the patriarch, refuse to leave the desert to seek medical help. The women — and young teen boy, Assaf — are confronted with a dilemma: Survival or obedience.
With the hissing desert winds, surrounded by stubborn tents and the suffocating grip of impending grief and unearthed betrayal, the question arises: Will they stay or will they go?
The film’s cinematography is a standout. One particularly stunning shot lingers — a mirror leaning into the sand, reflecting Rifa and Assaf in deep conversation seemingly side-by-side but while apart. The desert engulfs them but they seem grounded. It is shatteringly beautiful. The wisest figures seem to be the youngest.
Set against the backdrop of the Gulf War, the real battles feel internal.
What made watching “Hobal” even more powerful was experiencing it in a Saudi cinema — not too far, geographically, from where the Gulf War broke out, knowing this was a story entirely brought to life by local talent.
There is also a strong Ithra connection. The film was written by Mufarrij Almajfel, who also wrote the award-winning 2023 Ithra film “Hajjan” (about camels), which also starred Al-Hasawi — honored at this year’s festival for his remarkable career. Camels, the symbolic “ships of the desert,” make several meaningful appearances here too, helping to move the story along.
Directed by Abdulaziz Alshlahei and produced by Sharif Almajali (along with Alshlahei and Mohammed Al-Turki as executive producers), “Hobal” is a collaborative effort between Shaf Studios, Film Clinic and Peninsula Pictures Group.
The film had its world premiere at the 2024 Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah and was released in cinemas across the Kingdom in early 2025.
Since then, “Hobal” has grossed an impressive SR21.6 million (about $5.8 million) in its first month, quickly becoming the fastest-growing box office hit in Saudi cinematic history.
It is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
British star Cynthia Erivo wears label’s jewelry at Coachella
Dima and Tania Nawbar head family business set up in 1881
Updated 23 April 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Dima and Tania Nawbar, the sisters behind Lebanese jewelry label L’Atelier Nawbar, have added a new Hollywood name to their list of fans: Cynthia Erivo.
The British singer and actress was spotted this week wearing The Buoy Hoops from L’Atelier Nawbar’s latest Lot No. 91 collection during her Coachella debut.
Crafted from 18-karat yellow gold, the statement earrings were paired with a cream lace gown featuring wide bell sleeves layered over a black satin base. The look combined varied textures and was styled with over-the-knee black boots.
The sisters took to Instagram to share a picture of the star wearing the earrings and wrote: “In love!!!”
L’Atelier Nawbar was established in 2011. Dima and Tania are fourth generation jewelers. They are the first women to take over the family’s Beirut-based business which was founded by their great-great-grandfather in a gold souk in 1881.
Since establishing their own modern take on the brand, the sisters have gone on to see their designs worn by international celebrities including Queen Rania of Jordan and Joey King.
And they have their collection of rings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets stocked at major retailers including Harrods, Bloomingdales and Moda Operandi.
The designers previously told Arab News that they wanted trendy, multipurpose jewelry for every day and night. Their designs can be worn in various ways, with pendants serving also as rings, which reduces investment costs.
The sisters also decided to move away from the traditional business model and offer something new. “We didn’t want to traditionally follow the family business as it was,” Dima said.
So the sisters decided to embrace individuality by remodeling pieces and creating new bespoke jewelry for clients.
Clients are able to bring their own jewelry into the atelier, and the designers will upcycle and redesign the pieces into something fresh and modern.
Ramy Youssef stars in new film by ‘Succession’ creator
Updated 23 April 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman and Cory Michael Smith play four billionaires in “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong‘s HBO film, “Mountainhead.”
As they enjoy their trip, the world erupts in chaos with headlines such as “Sectarian Violence Escalates in India” and “President of Uzbekistan Forced to Move to Secret Location” interrupting their downtime.
In the trailer, the billionaires receive a call from the President of the United States. “What could he possibly have to say?” asks Smith.
Youssef responds: “That your platform has inflamed a volatile situation, circulating unfalsifiable deepfakes, massive fraud, market instability.”
Armstrong wrote and directed the film, which is a parody of the lives of the ultra-wealthy.
Filming began on “Mountainhead” in March, giving the crew a tight turnaround time before the film’s release on May 31.
In a recent interview with Variety, Youssef teased the film, saying it’s “funny in the same way ‘Succession’ is.”
Egyptian American comedian, writer, actor and director Youssef is known for creating and starring in “Ramy” on the US streaming platform Hulu, which won him a Golden Globe in 2020 in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy.
His animated series “#1 Happy Family USA” had world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March.
Red Sea Film Foundation announces mentorship program with Spike Lee
Updated 22 April 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee – known for films like “Malcolm X” and “BlacKkKlansman” – is teaming up with Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Foundation to launch the brand new Director’s Program.
The initiative will bring together 15 selected filmmakers for a “one-of-a-kind, intimate and inspiring mentoring experience” with Lee, according to an Instagram post from the foundation.
Taking place from April 30 to May 3, the program offers emerging directors from the Middle East and Asia a rare opportunity to learn from one of the most influential voices in cinema.
