February 21, 2022 (DeeD) – Rabat Author Film Festival, Festival International du Cinema D’Auteur de Rabat, or FICAR, has announced the award winners for the 2022 edition.
The 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival, or FICAR, has unveiled the full list of the 2022 award winners, the organizers announced on February 19, 2022. Movies from Morocco, Canada, Ireland, Indonesia, Italy, Egypt, Iran, Israel, France, Qatar, Lebanon, Mexico have won awards from the 2022 FICAR, Festival International du Cinema D’Auteur de Rabat. The 26th edition of the Rabat International Author Film Festival took place from February 11-19, 2022.
The Rabat International Author Film Festival (FICAR), Festival International du Cinema D’Auteur de Rabat, is dedicated to the Author cinema, a true cinema of art and thought in all its forms. The purpose of the FICAR, Festival International du Cinema D’Auteur de Rabat, is to meet and know the films, the authors and the public.
The competition of the 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival, or FICAR, included sections of International Competition, Short Films, Animation Short Films, Documentary Films, In Line. A lineup of 78 movies including 15 movies in International Competition, 32 fiction short films in Short Films competition, 11 animation short films in Animation competition, 15 documentary short films in Documentary competition, 5 movies in In Line competition went on screen in different sections of the festival.
Movies from 12 nations won awards in the 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival:
‘The Invisible’ by Reda Sabor, Hamza Makdoum from Morocco won the Best Moroccan Short Film award. ‘The Invisible’ tells the story of Badr, a young man of 25 lonely years, who works as much as clown in the squares public by disguising themselves as Spiderman. He feels that he has no place in society.
‘Far Away’ by Aziz Zoromba from Canada won the Best Short Documentary award. In ‘Far Away,’ after being estranged from his family for his homosexuality, we observe a young Arab man over four seasons and from far away as he navigates his solitude – all the while attempting to reconnect with his mother.
‘Fall of the Ibis King’ by Mikai Geronimo, Josh O’Caoimh won the Best Animation Short Film Award. In ‘Fall of the Ibis King,’ the antagonist of a dark opera becomes increasingly unsettled following the unlikely return of the former lead actor.
‘ Foam’ by Omar Elhami from Canada won the Best Short Fiction Film award. In ‘Foam,’ set in the peak of summer, a carwash languishes. More than a job, the carwash has become a surrogate family to the small group of men. When Hakim returns to work after serving time, what was supposed to be a long awaited reunion between the workers quickly spirals into chaos.
The 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival, FICAR, awarded 2 movies with special mentions. ‘Annah The Javanese’ by Fatimah Tobing Rony from Indonesia, and ‘The White Wall’ by Andrea Brusa, Marco Scotuzzi from Italy won special mentions.
‘Feathers (Rish)’ by Omar El Zohairy from Egypt won the Criticism Award of the 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival. The jury also awarded ‘Titi’ by Ida Panahandeh from Iran with an special mention.
In ‘Feathers (Rish),’ a family is forced into a period of self-discovery after its authoritarian patriarch is accidentally turned into a chicken by a magician during a children’s birthday party.
‘Titi’ by Ida Panahandeh tells the story of a physicist, who is about to prove a thesis about the end of the world. He meets a wired surrogate mother who wants to deserve humanity and makes a room of her own.
Fady Mina Fawzy, the star of ‘Feathers (Rish)’, and Elnaz Shakerdoost, the star of ‘Tit’, jointly won the Best Female Performance award of the 26th FICAR, the 26th Rabat International Author Film Festival.
Tal Bartov, the actor of ‘Abu Omar’ won the Best Male Performance award of the 26th Festival International du Cinema D’Auteur de Rabat, FICAR.
‘Abu Omar’ tells the story of Salah, who sets out on the road under a military curfew to cross the Israeli border carrying his dead son Omar in a bag. Miri, a pregnant single woman, decides to help him out at all costs.
‘Mica’ by Ismail Ferroukhi from Morocco won the Best scenario award of the 26th Rabat Author Film Festival. In ‘Mica,’ a boy from the slums, is hired as the handyman at a swanky tennis club in Casablanca. There is he noticed by Sophia, a former tennis champion, who takes him under her wing.
The jury award of the 2022 Rabat International Author Film Festival went to ‘Little Palestine (Diary of a siege),’ directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib, from Lebanon, France, Qatar. In ‘Little Palestine (Diary of a siege),’ after the Syrian Revolution, Al-Assad’s regime besieges the district of Yarmouk, largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world. Yarmouk is cut off. The director records the daily deprivations while celebrating the people’s courage.
The Grand Prix Hassan II award went to ‘Sin Señas particulares (Identifying Features),’ directed by Fernanda Valadez, from Mexico.