TWELVE-MONTH HIGHLIGHT(S):
Film Clinic (FC) continued to impress with its exceptional pan-Arab projects, including Kaouther Ben Hania's FOUR DAUGHTERS (Tunisia), which won the César Award for Best Documentary and was nominated for an Academy Award. Additionally, FC stole the spotlight at the third edition of the RSIFF, presenting an enchanting lineup of four Arab titles — FOUR DAUGHTERS, BACKSTAGE (Tunisia), HAJJAN (KSA), and ANIMALIA (Morocco) — the first three of which held a sold-out world premiere at the TIFF. FC’s latest stroke of artistic brilliance were the commercial films FLIGHT 404 and VOY! VOY! VOY!, both of which generated enthusiastic reviews and topped the Egyptian and Saudi box offices. In fact three of FC’s films in total were submitted to the Academy Awards by their respective countries — Egypt’s VOY! VOY! VOY!, Tunisia’s FOUR DAUGHTERS, and Iraq’s HANGING GARDENS.