The administration of the Jerusalem International Film Festival, headed by Dr. Ezzedine Shalah, decided to add the Critics’ Jury Prize in its sixth session, which will start from 29/11/2021 to 06/12/2021 in Gaza city.
Dr. Shalah stated that the festival seeks to develop the cinematic movement every year. In this session, the Critics Committee Prize will be gifted to the spirit of the late Hatem Ali for his efforts and creativity in dealing with the Palestinian cause. As well as in each session, a cinematic figure who served the Palestinian cause will be chosen to entitle the Critics’ Prize with its name.
Furthermore, Dr. Shalah confirmed that the rest of the committees and films participating in the sixth session of the festival will be revealed as soon as possible. The critics’ jury was formed from:
Tarek El-Shennawy is a journalist and film critic from Egypt. He is a professor of Art Criticism at the Faculty of Media at Cairo University and the International Academy of Media Sciences. Besides, El-Shennawy has written 30 cinematic books and has been awarded more than once the 8th Best Critic Prize chosen by the public. El-Shennawy published hundreds of articles in the field of film criticism.
Lama Tayara is a film critic, writer and researcher from Syria. She has a doctorate in media, specializing in cinema, radio and television. Tayara has previously participated in several Arab and international juries’ committees, which the most recent one was the jury of the International Federation of Cinematographers in Ismailia. Moreover, Tayara writes and publishes in several Arab newspapers, and she also prepares and presents Al-Riwaq Cultural Program on the Sumer Cinema podcast.
Irfan Rasheed is a journalist, writer, critic and director from Iraq. He was the director of Arabic programs at the Dubai International Film Festival. Since 2006, Rasheed has managed the “Sea of Arab Cinema” forum in the Sicilian city of Messina and worked as an editor for the Italian channel Arabic-speaking “Ray Mead”. As well, Rasheed supervised the establishment and management of the Arabic section in the agencies “Aki” and “Eggy”, and he was awarded the title of “The Journalist of the year” granted by the “Askia International Prize for Journalism” in 2004.
Niveen Abu Lafi is an art critic from Kuwait and has a bachelor degree in criticism and theater literature from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait. Besides, Abu Lafi was the head of the media center for Al-Qurain Cultural Festival in 2004, a producer of programs on Kuwait TV and Radio, a journalistic editor in Al-Qabas newspaper formerly and a journalist in Al-Anba’a Kuwaiti newspaper. Furthermore, Abu Lafi was the head of the media center for the Al-Kharafi Festival of Theatrical Creativity.
Mustafa Al-Talib is a film critic from Morocco and has a doctorate in French literature from the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Rabat. Moreover, Al-Talib was a former consultant to the Minister of Communication and has published several Arabic and French articles in literature and cinema. Al-Talib is the president of the Association of Maghreb Art in Rabat, a former member of the Moroccan Association of Critics Cinema and a former member of the Association of the International Author Film Festival in Rabat.
