First Kuwaiti Film Festival concludes

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Winners in short, long docu film categories announced

KUWAIT CITY, March 29: A panel of judges Tuesday announced the winners in the short and long documentary film categories at the concluding activities of the First Kuwait Film Festival held in Dasma Theater under the patronage of the acting State Minister for Information and Chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah.

‘Jihad in Hollywood’ directed by Jenn Dees with producer Omar Al-Dakheel won the grand jury prize in the short documentary film category, and Aidan Brooks’ movie ‘From Kuwait’ came second, while ‘From City to City’ directed by Haya Al-Ghanem claimed the third place. With the long documentary film category, ‘The Art Indoor’ directed by Habib Hussein won the grand jury prize, while ‘Symphony of the Generations’ directed by Abdulaziz Al-Mershed claimed the second place, and ‘We Die for Kuwait’ directed by Ali Hassan came third. Kuwaiti short film ‘Aryata’ directed by Ahmed Al-Turkait took home the first prize, and ‘Lamia Khunda’ directed by Khaled Al-Ruwayees won the second prize, whereas ‘Shai Haleeb’ directed by Meshal Al-Haleel came third.

The panel also awarded the Khaled Al-Sedeeq Prize for Short Documentary Films equally to ‘Inside of Me’ directed by Abdulaziz Al-Balaam and ‘No Wasted Part’ directed by Ahmed Al-Khudari. In an address, panel member Muhammad Al-Mansour praised all participants for the standard and quality of films presented and encouraged revival of the Kuwaiti film industry. He also urged producers to give the Arabic films English subtitles for non-Arab audience to understand. He noted a committee has been formed to make a compilation of the participating films with photos of the activities of the festival.

Al-Mansour noted the committee has since recommended the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) to release information on the history of Kuwaiti film industry as a reference for researchers and individuals in cinema. He suggested a minimum of five films should be specified for each category so as to boost the power of competition.

For his part, director of the festival Shaker Abul said the five-day event saw the participation of 24 films, constituting 21 short documentaries and 3 long films. He added 16 specialist lecturers participated in seven workshops along with 17 guests from nine countries. Film Director Khaled Al-Sedeeq also expressed happiness for the honor of naming a prize winner, and called on the youth to contribute to the development of Kuwaiti cinema

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