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Arab News
6 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Arab News
Artist Massoud Hayoun's London exhibition ‘Stateless' explores identity, exile
DUBAI: Los Angeles-based artist and author Massoud Hayoun has spent his career exploring identity, exile and resistance. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ His latest exhibition, 'Stateless,' running at London's Larkin Durey art gallery until June 27, is an exploration of control, culture and community. Raised by his grandparents, Hayoun paints their stories of exile, love and resilience in shades of blue, blending personal narratives with icons of Arab cinema and song to highlight shared cultural memories. His paintings are imbued with the legacy of his Egyptian and Tunisian Jewish heritage, but they also reach beyond his own family's history. His grandfather left Egypt, and his mother was born without citizenship — experiences that deeply inform his work. In 'Stateless,' he extends this exploration of displacement and belonging to other communities, particularly Palestinians and undocumented Americans, he told Arab News. 'In this show, you'll find people suspended between homeland and refuge, suspended in mid-air, suspended between life and death and living out a sort of existentialist heroism, suspended in undying romance,' he said. Hayoun's journey to painting was shaped by his background in journalism. A former journalist, he is also the author of 'When We Were Arabs,' a book on Arab identity that won an Arab American Book Award and was named a National Public Radio best book of the year in 2019. His transition from writing to painting was a natural evolution. 'I am a figurative painter — I paint people. My journalism was animated by a love of people and a desire to better understand, through interviews like this, people from walks of life drastically different to my own,' he said. His use of blue is deliberate. Initially reserved for people who had died, the color now engulfs all his subjects, evoking the transient nature of identity and existence. 'At first, I only painted my grandparents and other dead people in shades of blue, because to my mind, the glow of it seemed ghostly. I cast other people in different colors to signify other states of being. Eventually, after reflections on time, everyone became blue, even myself,' he said. Yet, at its core, Hayoun's work is about more than politics — it is about love. 'These works touch on sweeping political, philosophical and sociological issues, but they are fundamentally about love for people,' he said. 'They are meant in the way my grandparents expressed anxiety as a kind of love—fear for my well-being, fervent hopes that I live well and in dignity. These paintings are explosions of love,' he added.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Thank You for Banking With Us!' Wins Best Film at Critics Awards for Arab Films
Palestinian director Laila Abbas' female empowerment drama 'Thank You for Banking With Us!' won best film and director at the 9th Critics Awards for Arab Films at an event held on the sidelines of the 78th Cannes Film Festival. 'Thank You for Banking With Us!' tackles the hot button issue of sexist Middle Eastern inheritance rules dictated by Islamic Sharia law, under which a man has a right to take double the share of a woman. More from Variety The Remake Co. Unveils 13th Adaptation of Hit Global Franchise 'Ten Days Without Mom' Judy Davis, 'Bridgerton's' Florence Hunt Star in 'Butterfly Stroke' Angelina Jolie Dazzles Cannes and Champions Global Cinema at the Chopard Gala: 'Anything to Make It More Accessible Is Necessary and Welcome' Morocco's 'Everybody Loves Touda,' written by Nabil Ayouch and Maryam Touzani, won the screenplay award, and best actress for Nisrin Erradi. Adam Bessa won best actor with French-Tunisian film 'Ghost Trail.' The awards highlight the best achievements in Arab filmmaking over the past year, with this year's winners selected by a panel of 281 film critics from around the world. The awards are organized by the Arab Cinema Center in collaboration with MAD Solutions, the International Emerging Film Talent Association, and NEFT Emerging Film Talent International Competition. This year's winners are: Best Feature Film'Thank You for Banking With Us!' Laila Abbas, Palestine Best Screenplay'Everybody Loves Touda,' Nabil Ayouch and Maryam Touzani, Morocco Best DirectorLaila Abbas, 'Thank You for Banking With Us!,' Palestinian Best ActressNisrin Erradi, 'Everybody Loves Touda,' Moroccan Best ActorAdam Bessa, 'Ghost Trail,' French Tunisian Best MusicAmin Bouhafa, 'Aïcha,' French Tunisian Best Editing'Xoftex,' Noaz Deshe and Felipe Guerrero, Romanian-Colombian Best CinematographyMostafa El Kashef, 'The Village Next to Paradise,' Egyptian Best Documentary'No Other Land,' Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Palestine Best Short Film'Upshot,' Maha Haj, Palestine Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
The National
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
From Gaza to Cannes: Arab films in the spotlight
This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews discuss some of the most promising Arab entries at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which is running until May 24. They tease some of the titles they're most eager to watch, including Once Upon a Time in Gaza, a revenge thriller directed by Gaza-born twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser. Another film that's making waves at the event this year is Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker Tarik Saleh's Eagles of the Republic, which is competing for the Palme d'Or award. The hosts highlight the valuable role film festivals play to introduce audiences to new cultures. Last week, Disneyland Abu Dhabi was announced. With the hugely-popular theme park coming to Yas Island, Enas and Farah give the scoop of what to expect when the park eventually opens. They chat about which Disney characters and imagery from the region could inspire the attractions at Disneyland Abu Dhabi. They also discuss the economic boost it will bring to the emirate and the wider region, such as job creation and infrastructure development.
Vogue Arabia
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Arabia
Arab Cinema at Cannes is Having a Moment — But Don't Call it One
The Cannes Film Festival isn't just the world's grandest stage for cinema — it's also its most finely tuned mirror, reflecting not only the art but the politics, posturing, and latent anxieties of the film world. And this year, between the red carpets and Bella Hadid sightings, one truth has become unmistakable: Arab cinema has arrived, unapologetically, and on its own terms. Read More 5 Films by Arab Female Directors to Watch in 2025 From All That's Left of You by Cherien Dabis to Where the Wind Comes From by Amel Guellaty This year, four Arab-directed films are featured across the Festival's official selections — a number that, while conveniently neat, misses the point. This isn't tokenism. It's a tide shift. Arab cinema, long consigned to the circuit's margins — celebrated at home, politely acknowledged abroad — has taken its place at the centre. Eagles of the Republic, Directed by Tarik Saleh In Competition, Egyptian-Swedish director Tarik Saleh returns with Eagles of the Republic, a political thriller rendered with the precision of a scalpel and the force of a backhand. If his earlier Cairo Conspiracy whispered its truths, Eagles speaks them plainly — brutal, elegant, and bristling with unease. Fares Fares leads as a disgraced soap actor turned government spokesman, his charm long curdled. It's cynical. It's seductive. It's very Cannes.
