Dubai: For its milestone 10th edition, the Dubai International Film Festival (December 6-14) will honour two very different voices in the world of cinema: acclaimed Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, and accomplished Egyptian film critic Samir Farid.
Though Sheen might seem like an obvious choice, awarding a film critic with the second of two Lifetime Achievement Awards is an unorthodox move for the festival. DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma, however, dubbed Farid and his fellow critics an “important part” of the cinema world in a press release on Monday.
“Samir Farid is a giant in his field, and has been tireless in promoting cinema, both within the Arab world and beyond, for fifty years. The Lifetime Achievement Award honours his passion for Arab cinema, which we at DIFF hold as part of our core ethos,” said Juma.
With a history of analysing Arab cinema that goes as far back as 1965, Farid has built a name for himself as a film critic veteran over several generations. He started the National Festival of Short and Documentary Films in 1970, along with the National Festival of Feature Films a year later. He also founded two unions for film critics, and has sat on juries of international film festivals for the past four decades.
On his win, he said, “It’s a great honour from a great festival that was a turning point in the region towards the cinema as an expression of modernity, and an expression of Dubai’s pivotal role in the region and internationally.”
Farid is following in the footsteps of previous DIFF Lifetime Achievement awardees from Egypt, Hollywood and Bollywood, including acting giants Omar Sharif, Morgan Freeman and Shah Rukh Khan.
