Latest news with #Camerad'Or
Iraqi News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Iraqi News
Hasan Hadi becomes first Iraqi to win Cannes Best Feature Debut
Cannes – Hasan Hadi, the first filmmaker from Iraq to be selected for the prestigious Cannes Festival, on Saturday won a top prize for his childhood adventure under economic sanctions in 'The President's Cake'. His first feature-length film follows nine-year-old Lamia after her school teacher picks her to bake the class a cake for President Saddam Hussein's birthday or risk being denounced for disloyalty. It is the early 1990s, the country is under crippling UN sanctions, and she and her grandmother can barely afford to eat. The pair set off from their home in the marshlands into town to try to track down the unaffordable ingredients. Hadi dedicated his Camera d'Or award, which honours first-time directors, to 'every kid or child around the world who somehow finds love, friendship and joy amid war, sanctions and dictatorship. 'You are the real heroes,' he said. He later shared the stage with dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who won the festival's Palme D'Or top prize for his 'It Was Just an Accident', the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail. 'The President's Cake' has received excellent reviews since premiering last week in the Directors' Fortnight section. Cinema bible Variety called it a 'tragicomic gem'. Deadline said it was 'head and shoulders above' some of the films in the running for the festival's Palme d'Or top prize, and 'could turn out to be Iraq's first nominee for an Oscar'. – Palestinian films – Also from the Middle East, Palestinian director Tawfeek Barhom received his award for his short film 'I'm Glad You're Dead Now'. After giving thanks, he took the opportunity to mention the war in Gaza. 'In 20 years from now when we are visiting the Gaza Strip, try not to think about the dead and have a nice trip,' he said. US President Donald Trump sparked controversy this year by saying he wanted to turn the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Outside the main competition, Gazan twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser on Friday received a directing award in the Certain Regard parallel section for 'Once Upon A Time In Gaza'. One of them dedicated the award to Palestinians, especially those living in their homeland of Gaza, which they left in 2012. He said that, when they hesitated to return to Cannes to receive the prize, his mother had encouraged him to go and tell the world about the suffering of people in Gaza. 'She said, 'No, no, no, you have to go. Tell them to stop the genocide',' he said. Amnesty International last month said Israel was carrying out a 'live-streamed genocide' against Palestinians in Gaza, claims Israel dismissed as 'blatant lies'.
Malaysian Reserve
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malaysian Reserve
Iraq's first ever director in Cannes wins best feature debut
CANNES – Hasan Hadi, the first filmmaker from Iraq to be selected for the prestigious Cannes Festival, on Saturday won a top prize for his childhood adventure under economic sanctions in 'The President's Cake'. His first feature-length film follows nine-year-old Lamia after her school teacher picks her to bake the class a cake for President Saddam Hussein's birthday or risk being denounced for disloyalty. It is the early 1990s, the country is under crippling UN sanctions, and she and her grandmother can barely afford to eat. The pair set off from their home in the marshlands into town to try to track down the unaffordable ingredients. Hadi dedicated his Camera d'Or award, which honours first-time directors, to 'every kid or child around the world who somehow finds love, friendship and joy amid war, sanctions and dictatorship. 'You are the real heroes,' he said. He later shared the stage with dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who won the festival's Palme D'Or top prize for his 'It Was Just an Accident', the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail. 'The President's Cake' has received excellent reviews since premiering last week in the Directors' Fortnight section. Cinema bible Variety called it a 'tragicomic gem'. Deadline said it was 'head and shoulders above' some of the films in the running for the festival's Palme d'Or top prize, and 'could turn out to be Iraq's first nominee for an Oscar'. Also from the Middle East, Palestinian director Tawfeek Barhom received his award for his short film 'I'm Glad You're Dead Now'. After giving thanks, he took the opportunity to mention the war in Gaza. 'In 20 years from now when we are visiting the Gaza Strip, try not to think about the dead and have a nice trip,' he said. US President Donald Trump sparked controversy this year by saying he wanted to turn the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. Outside the main competition, Gazan twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser on Friday received a directing award in the Certain Regard parallel section for 'Once Upon A Time In Gaza'. One of them dedicated the award to Palestinians, especially those living in their homeland of Gaza, which they left in 2012. He said that, when they hesitated to return to Cannes to receive the prize, his mother had encouraged him to go and tell the world about the suffering of people in Gaza. 'She said, 'No, no, no, you have to go. Tell them to stop the genocide',' he said. Amnesty International last month said Israel was carrying out a 'live-streamed genocide' against Palestinians in Gaza, claims Israel dismissed as 'blatant lies'. –AFP
France 24
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Iraq's first ever director in Cannes wins best feature debut
His first feature-length film follows nine-year-old Lamia after her school teacher picks her to bake the class a cake for President Saddam Hussein's birthday or risk being denounced for disloyalty. It is the early 1990s, the country is under crippling UN sanctions, and she and her grandmother can barely afford to eat. The pair set off from their home in the marshlands into town to try to track down the unaffordable ingredients. Hadi dedicated his Camera d'Or award, which honours first-time directors, to "every kid or child around the world who somehow finds love, friendship and joy amid war, sanctions and dictatorship. "You are the real heroes," he said. He later shared the stage with dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who won the festival's Palme D'Or top prize for his "It Was Just an Accident", the tale of five ordinary Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail. "The President's Cake" has received excellent reviews since premiering last week in the Directors' Fortnight section. Cinema bible Variety called it a "tragicomic gem". Deadline said it was "head and shoulders above" some of the films in the running for the festival's Palme d'Or top prize, and "could turn out to be Iraq's first nominee for an Oscar". Palestinian films Also from the Middle East, Palestinian director Tawfeek Barhom received his award for his short film "I'm Glad You're Dead Now". After giving thanks, he took the opportunity to mention the war in Gaza. "In 20 years from now when we are visiting the Gaza Strip, try not to think about the dead and have a nice trip," he said. US President Donald Trump sparked controversy this year by saying he wanted to turn the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East". Outside the main competition, Gazan twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser on Friday received a directing award in the Certain Regard parallel section for "Once Upon A Time In Gaza". One of them dedicated the award to Palestinians, especially those living in their homeland of Gaza, which they left in 2012. He said that, when they hesitated to return to Cannes to receive the prize, his mother had encouraged him to go and tell the world about the suffering of people in Gaza. "She said, 'No, no, no, you have to go. Tell them to stop the genocide'," he said. Amnesty International last month said Israel was carrying out a "live-streamed genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza, claims Israel dismissed as "blatant lies".
Kuwait Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Nigeria needs good fathers, says director who made Cannes history
Akinola Davies Jr -- who has made history by directing Nigeria's first ever film in competition at the Cannes film festival -- lost his father when he was two. "I've always collected father figures growing up," said the maker of "My Father's Shadow", which is in the running for the Camera d'Or for best first film. His homeland has also been looking for a father figure for a long time to put an arm round its shoulder, Akinola told AFP. The film -- which The Guardian praised as "rich, heartfelt and rewarding" -- follows a father and his two sons on an odyssey through Lagos just as the military "pulled the rug away from dreams of democracy" with yet another coup, annulling the result of the 1993 election. Many Nigerians had hoped opposition leader Moshood Abiola, known as "MKO", would save them from the military, Akinola said. Instead the generals threw him in prison. 'Dreams deferred' "There are interesting parallels between the father figures as the president of the country and as a military dictator," he said. "Growing up there was a perception that a father figure had to be a strong, authoritarian disciplinarian," said Davies, who grew up between London and Lagos. That was certainly the figure that Nigeria got after the coup in the shape of General Sani Abacha. But Akinola and his film subtly suggests that there could have been an alternative father of the nation -- a kinder, gentler, more nurturing "Daddy" personified by Sope Dirisu. The "Gangs of London" star plays a father who brings his boys from the village to Lagos in the vain attempt to get the months of backpay he is owed. He may be a good man but he is far from flawless as they discover that his eye has wandered from his wife in the big smoke. "The film is about the boys being able to hold their father accountable... And because they get to see how to be accountable they can be accountable themselves," Akinola said. The young director said the film was all about "interrogating masculinity", making a father's relationship with his children a "two-way street and not a dictatorship". Akinola wrote the screenplay with his older brother Wale, who he "idolized" as a kid -- a relationship that is mirrored in the film, with brothers Godwin Chimerie Egbo and Chibiuke Marvellous Egbo playing the boys. In a case of life imitating art, Dirisu had to be "Daddy" on set, gently laying down the law a few times, even as Marvelous -- in another echo of the script -- tried to keep his younger brother in check. "There are levels and levels," Akinola laughed. "I've witnessed my brothers become fathers, and the fatherhood that they perform with their kids is something that I would have loved to have had." With the film garnering warm reviews, and Akinola rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty on the red carpet, he said he hoped one day Nigeria's dreams would also come true. But the dreams of Africa's most populous country have been "deferred and deferred and deferred", he told AFP, "and they're still being deferred". - AFP
France 24
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Nigeria needs good fathers, says director who made Cannes history
"I've always collected father figures growing up," said the maker of "My Father's Shadow", which is in the running for the Camera d'Or for best first film. His homeland has also been looking for a father figure for a long time to put an arm round its shoulder, Akinola told AFP. The film -- which The Guardian praised as "rich, heartfelt and rewarding" -- follows a father and his two sons on an odyssey through Lagos just as the military "pulled the rug away from dreams of democracy" with yet another coup, annulling the result of the 1993 election. Many Nigerians had hoped opposition leader Moshood Abiola, known as "MKO", would save them from the military, Akinola said. Instead the generals threw him in prison. 'Dreams deferred' "There are interesting parallels between the father figures as the president of the country and as a military dictator," he said. "Growing up there was a perception that a father figure had to be a strong, authoritarian disciplinarian," said Davies, who grew up between London and Lagos. That was certainly the figure that Nigeria got after the coup in the shape of General Sani Abacha. But Akinola and his film subtly suggests that there could have been an alternative father of the nation -- a kinder, gentler, more nurturing "Daddy" personified by Sope Dirisu. The "Gangs of London" star plays a father who brings his boys from the village to Lagos in the vain attempt to get the months of backpay he is owed. He may be a good man but he is far from flawless as they discover that his eye has wandered from his wife in the big smoke. "The film is about the boys being able to hold their father accountable... And because they get to see how to be accountable they can be accountable themselves," Akinola said. The young director said the film was all about "interrogating masculinity", making a father's relationship with his children a "two-way street and not a dictatorship". Akinola wrote the screenplay with his older brother Wale, who he "idolised" as a kid -- a relationship that is mirrored in the film, with brothers Godwin Chimerie Egbo and Chibiuke Marvellous Egbo playing the boys. In a case of life imitating art, Dirisu had to be "Daddy" on set, gently laying down the law a few times, even as Marvellous -- in another echo of the script -- tried to keep his younger brother in check. "There are levels and levels," Akinola laughed. "I've witnessed my brothers become fathers, and the fatherhood that they perform with their kids is something that I would have loved to have had." With the film garnering warm reviews, and Akinola rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty on the red carpet, he said he hoped one day Nigeria's dreams would also come true. But the dreams of Africa's most populous country have been "deferred and deferred and deferred", he told AFP, "and they're still being deferred".
