By Reem Al Hammadi and Staff Reports
ABU DHABI — In the seventh ZU Middle East Film Festival 2016 awards ceremony held in May at the Convention Center, the “Best of the Best” trophy went to the animated film “Unfinished Tales: Fool’s Paradise” by Hussam Ismail of Jordan. It depicts four wounded soldiers in a hospital room where one of them with his bed near a window tells the others what happens in the world outside.
The Best Narrative award went to “The Salt Man” by Seyed Sajad Moosavi of Iran. It is a story about a genius artist who is obliged to work in a salt mine with his six-year-old daughter.
Award for Best Documentary was given to Waleed Al Madani of the UAE for “The Sheikh Of Musaffah.”
Nicolas Fattouh of Lebanon won the Best Animation prize for “The Pot Thief.”
Finally, the twofour54 Emerging Filmmaker award went Fayssal Bensahli for his film “Made of Clay,” a film about a passionate young stop-motion artist who wants to pursue his dream.
The opening film was “The Tainted Veil,” followed by a question and answer session with the director.
Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, and president of Zayed University, and her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs of UAE and Chairwoman of the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi and twofour54 attended the closing ceremony and presented the awards to all ZUMEFF 2016 winners.
“Two things made ZUMEFF special this year: The incredible team of students who worked so hard to put on the show, and the growing quality of students films in the region, a reflection of how the film industry is maturing through its youth,” said Sascha Ritter, director of ZUMEFF and a communication professor at Zayed University.
Drill Deeper:
- Zayed University Middle East Film Festival website
- Making of “The Salt Man” — Seyed Sajad Moosavi talks about his film.
- “Giving Life to Emirati Cinema” in Emirates Business online magazine.
This story was originally published on June 2, 2016. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 31, 2020. The photo that accompanied this story was lost due to the loss of the domain name.
