Part of the 74th Cannes Film Festival, Arab Cinema Center (ACC) announced the recipients of its Achievement Award for Film Critics this year. The winners are Lebanese Film Critic Mohammed Rouda & American Film Critic Sydney Levine.The award celebrates their inspiring careers in film criticism. In it’s latest edition of Arab Cinema Magazine, (ACC) dedicated a whole section to the works of each of Mohammed Rouda and Sydney Levine’s careers.
“I’m thrilled to receive this award in 2021, the Year that witnesses the comeback of the world’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival. I’m humbled to be awarded such an award from the Arab Cinema Center and its inspiring director Alaa Karkouti. I wasn’t able to be with you because of some emergency situation, and unlike some movies, no one can be in two places at the same time, “ commented Film Critic Mohammed Rouda.
“As for me, most of you know how much I love cinema, which shouldn’t be only expressed through words. Millions of people express their love of cinema on a daily basis, by attending, watching, exchanging ideas and being there for the most exciting of all arts. Film criticism is not just linked to the art of cinema, it is an integral part of it. For the new generation, this is what I, humbly, advise: learn more and write better,” he added.
On the other hand, Film Critic Sydney Levine, expressed his happiness with the award, stating that, “To be awarded for achievement by The Arab Cinema Center is an honor, which makes me feel so proud and so much more responsible for bringing awareness to the Middle East and North Africa through their artists' ever increasing cinematic excellence! I have achieved very little compared to what these filmmakers have achieved over the past few years.”
“We seek to shed light on the film criticism through the Arab Cinema Center, honoring those film critics who promote Arab cinema by writing about it inside or outside the Arab world. With regard to Mohammed Rouda and Sydney Levine, they both have an incredibly rich career. They have been tirelessly writing about hundreds of Arab films, which makes them among the most influential within the Arab film industry,” Co-founders of ACC, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, commented.
Born in Beirut, Mohammed Rouda has been a film critic and a journalist for over 40 years now. Before that he was Senior Editor/Film Critic at the pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat. Rouda was a Festival Consultant and Associate Director of the Competition for the Dubai International Film Festival (2005-2008). He worked as a producer and presenter of film shows for Abu Dhabi TV, MBC TV, and Kuwait Television. A prolific writer, he is the author and publisher of The Book of Cinema, an annual review of Arab and international films, and also Arab Cinema in the Sea of Changes. He wrote the original screenplay for the 2006 Saudi-financed Arab feature film WHAT'S UP (Keif al-hal?). He is a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (which (the Golden Globes), FIPRESCI and The London Film Circle.
Writer of popular blog Sydneys Buzz, Sydney Levine holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Southern California, a License from the Sorbonne University of Paris and a BFA from the University of California. In 1988, she started FilmFinders, the database of feature film projects that was adapted by the Cannes Marché to become Cinando.com. Sydney travels extensively on the international film market circuit as a hired panel moderator, educator, and consultant for filmmakers; the Cannes Film Market, the Berlinale’s European Film Market and Talent Campus, Deutsche Welle Akademie to name but a few.
By presenting the Achievement Award for Film Critics, (ACC) seeks to highlight the profession of film criticism by honoring one of the Arab or foreign film critics annually at the Cannes Film Festival. Over the past years, ACC awarded each of, Film Critic and Media Figure Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, Lebanese film critic Ibrahim Al Ariss, and American Film Critic Deborah Young.
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is a nonprofit organization registered in Amsterdam. The ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. ACC's activities vary between film markets, stands, pavilions, welcome parties, networking sessions, one-on-one meetings and bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, as well as issuing Arab Cinema Magazine, distributed at leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from ACC's partners and their future projects.
ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website. It is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help representatives of the film industry identify Arab film productions.
