French film “Chicken with Plums” was the big winner at the fifth edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, scooping the Best Narrative Film prize and a monetary award of $100,000 at the closing ceremony held on Friday evening. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s follow-up to 2007 animation blockbuster “Persepolis” is a whimsical love story …

The regional film festivals’ fight over the limited pool of Arab films has intensified with every passing year—a fight not only to justify their existence but to matter. The cultural, political and economic changes spurred by the Arab Spring have caused this pool to shrink even further this year, and thus Morocco, the sole functioning …

"Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!" As Tintin prepares to take on the world in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, the fearless boy reporter’s adventures are hotting up at home. Thirty years in the making, the Avatar-style film hits screens worldwide next week as the Belgium-born comic-book hero fends off racism charges, squabbles over his legacy, and …

British author Julian Barnes on Tuesday won the Man Booker Prize, one of the highest-profile awards in English-language literature, at the fourth attempt for his novel "The Sense of an Ending." Barnes picked up the £50,000 ($80,000) award, which recognizes the best work of fiction by an author from the Commonwealth or the Republic of …

The Zamalek Art Gallery is currently hosting a sculpture exhibition by artist Gamal Abdel Nasser. An artist with a steady list of exhibitions since 1983, his sculptures have evolved and matured while always retaining a distinct style. The exhibition showcases a myriad of his styles, ranging from colorful masks and torsos, to figural representations and …

  With no prior knowledge of Greek artist Yorgos Papageorgiou or his work, this was one of the few times I attend an opening with no preconceptions. But what I found at the Mashrabiya Gallery was a truly pleasant surprise.   It’s been some time since I came across an exhibition that does not attempt …

It has insults, rivalries and bitter accusations. The battle for Britain’s most prestigious literary award is proving to be a page-turner. Five judges, led by a former British spymaster, are meeting Tuesday to choose the winner of the Booker Prize for fiction, which brings a 50,000 pound ($82,000) purse, a big sales boost for the …

On Friday night, Egyptians and expats gathered under the glow of orange and blue lights outside Darb 1718 for an evening of music celebrating the diplomatic and cultural relationship between Egypt and Poland. A group of Polish and Egyptian musicians, led by Maria Pomianowska, performed music to accompany Arabic translations of poetry by Polish Nobel …

By Joseph Fahim The past decade has been quite uneventful for award-winning German filmmaker Wim Wenders (“Wings of Desire,” Paris,’Texas”). Big duds such as “Don’t Come Knocking” and “Palermo Shooting” prompted critics to write him off; his best years appeared to be far behind him. But after three years of silence, Wenders finally makes a triumphant …

BUCHAREST: Estonian short animated film "Body Memory" directed by Ulo Pikkov was late Saturday awarded the top prize at the Anim’est animation festival in Bucharest. The nine-minute film focuses on a premise that the body retains memories of a person’s ancestors and will now be Anim’est’s submission for the 2012 pan-European Cartoon d’OR prize. "The …

BERLIN: Internationally acclaimed Algerian author Boualem Sansal Sunday received the annual German Book Trade Peace Prize and said that people everywhere were rising up against dictatorship. Sansal, 62, received the award for his open criticism of the regime in Algeria and his drive for "freedom of speech, culture and religion" in his native country, said …

Once again, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival cements its reputation as the regional Mecca for documentaries, thanks to an exciting selection featuring some of the biggest names in documentary filmmaking along with newcomers making a splash with their remarkable films. The most notable of the biopics featured in the fifth edition of the fest are …

Amid the accustomed razzle-dazzle, the fifth edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicked off Thursday evening, commencing the official start of a regional festival season surly to be shaped by the Arab Spring. Devoid of politics, the sole controversial incident of the evening came prior to the start of the show when Egyptian film …

A couple of decades ago, a young and tough Jeff Tweedy thought he was punk rock. That is nothing compared to how out there the 44-year-old Wilco frontman and father of two feels these days. "To be honest, at this age, I feel like what we’re doing now is more punk rock than anything I …

CAIRO: Egyptian film is the most widely viewed cinema in the Arab world, and Egypt is one of a few countries in the region that has maintained this industry since the 1930s, despite war and instability. Accordingly, Egyptian movies, which have long inspired people across the Arab world, have significant potential to positively affect women’s …

Authors once just had to deal with a publisher but are now being forced to embrace the digital age and negotiate the rights to their works for TV, films and e-books. Organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which opens on Wednesday, said the challenges thrown up by the upheaval in the book world would be …

A new exhibit at Darb 1718, the Contemporary Art and Culture Center in Old Cairo, brings together Latin American artists to reflect on the relationship between “images, politics and social networks.” Funded by Artmedia and curated by Sayira Cerdas of Costa Rica, the exhibit’s goals, outlined in press releases, are bold and lofty. “The idea …

  The Arabian Dance Theater Company are launching a new show in October 2011 in London titled, “Under the Sun.” Based on a real character, “Under The Sun” is a modern story about a Bedouin girl who challenges her traditions and follows her dream to become a dancer in Cairo. It explores traditional and contemporary …

STOCKHOLM: Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer, who sets moral goals with unexpected yet simple imagery, won the 2011 Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday. Transtroemer, 80, was honored "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality," the Swedish Academy’s jury said. His poetry is filled with imagination and emotion, but is also …

Once a location of choice for directors shooting World War II classics and big 1980s adventure films, Sri Lanka is hoping to make a comeback on the movie trail as it emerges from civil war. Since the island’s bloody conflict ended in May 2009, the government has been trying to promote a new image focusing …

Baghdad’s third international film festival, and first in four years, opened on Monday, with the aim of reviving an industry hammered by decades of violence and sanctions. More than 150 films from 32 countries will be aired in multiple locations across the Iraqi capital from October 3 to 10, festival director Taher Alwan told AFP. …

Having heard of the latest book release by the American University in Cairo Press titled “The Road to Tahrir,” I was sceptical and already exhausted at what I was about to read. Bookstores have been filled to the brim with books about the revolution, most of which are empty pseudo-analytical chronicles by authors who are …

  t has been dubbed the “Heaven’s Gate” of Egyptian cinema; the biggest commercial and critical flop in the modern history of local cinema. A bloated, self-conscious art-house wannabe muddled in vague philosophies and sluggish narrative.   Critics of the film were merciless. Headlines read: “Colossal failure,” “A scandal,” “An exercise in posturing.” Few other …

WASHINGTON: The ultimate lifetime achievement award came days too late for Canadian Ralph Steinman, who was honored Monday with the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his groundbreaking work on the immune system. The 68-year-old cell biologist’s own discoveries helped extend his life but he died Friday after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, according to …

STOCKHOLM: The 2011 Nobel season opens Monday with the announcement in Stockholm of the Medicine Prize, to be followed over the course of a week by the awards for physics, chemistry, literature, economics and peace. The Medicine Prize is scheduled to be announced at 11:30 am at the earliest. The winner of the Nobel Peace …