A jury of 100 film critics from 16 Arabic-speaking countries have selected three finalists from 20 entries for this year’s Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films.
The films are “Deaf” by Eva Libertad (Spain), “DJ Ahmet” by Georgi M. Unkovski (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia) and “Yunan” by Ameer Fakher Eldin (Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia).
The award is jointly presented by European Film Promotion and the Arab Cinema Center and hosted by El Gouna Film Festival.
Libertad’s debut feature “Deaf” is a deeply personal adaptation of her short film by the same name, starring her real-life sister, Miriam Garlo, who is deaf. The film explores the intimate and complex relationship between a deaf woman and her hearing partner as they prepare to have a child. Communication barriers, emotional tension, and quiet tenderness are portrayed with great sensitivity, especially in the film’s most silent moments.
According to Libertad, the film is “a deeper dive into the complexity of the relationship between the deaf and hearing worlds,” reflecting experiences from her own life as the sister of a deaf woman.
“Deaf” premiered in the Panorama section at this year’s Berlinale, where it won both the Audience Award and the Arthouse Cinema Award. At the Festival de Málaga, it received six awards, including best film, actress and actor. The film won also the Latin American Critics Award for European Films at FICG Guadalajara.
“Deaf” is produced by Distinto Films, Nexus CreaFilms and A Contracorriente Films, with its world sales helmed by Madrid-based outfit Latido Films.
Unkovski’s debut feature “DJ Ahmet” celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award and received a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.
Set in a remote village in North Macedonia, the film tells the story of 15-year-old Ahmet, a quiet shepherd boy whose discovery of electronic music awakens a desire for freedom and self-expression. As Ahmet begins to dream of becoming a DJ, he faces the weight of family tradition, conservative expectations, and a love story that defies local norms.
According to Unkovski, “DJ Ahmet is about the kind of silent resistance that begins in the smallest corners of the world, where dreams often clash with inherited silence.” Shot with both lyrical intimacy and bursts of vibrant energy, the film portrays the quiet revolution of a boy refusing to surrender his identity.
A co-production between North Macedonia’s Cinema Futura and Sektor Film, the Czech Republic’s Alter Vision and Analog Vision, Serbia’s Backroom Production and Baš Čelik and Croatia’s 365 Films, “DJ Ahmet” is handled internationally by Films Boutique.
Fakher Eldin’s second feature “Yunan” is a contemplative and poetic exploration on identity, exile, and the search for meaning in unfamiliar landscapes. The film follows an Arab man who arrives on a remote island in the North Sea intending to end his life. Instead, he is confronted by its conservative, marginalized German community and the overwhelming force of nature, encounters that unsettle his resolve and gradually reshape his perspective. What begins as an act of solitude unfolds into an unexpected encounter with both people and place, gradually evolving into a quiet yet intense philosophical exchange that unearths themes of displacement, trauma, and renewal.
Shot against the stark beauty of windswept Nordic landscapes, “Yunan” conjures a haunting sense of emotional exile that mirrors the protagonist’s inner journey. Fakher Eldin explains that he sought to explore the void left when familiarity dissolves, when the sense of home and belonging shatters and only silence remains.
The film was part of this year’s Berlinale Competition and was awarded the Golden Firebird Award for best actor (Georges Khabbaz) and best actress (Hanna Schygulla) at the Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival.
“Yunan” was produced by Dorothe Beinemeier from Red Balloon Film (Germany) together with Microclimat Film (Canada) and Intramovies (Italy). Co-producers are Fresco Films, Metafora Productions and Tabi360. Its world sales are handled by Intramovies, and Mad Solutions is handling Middle East and North Africa sales.
The winner will be announced during the El Gouna Film Festival (Oct. 16 – 24).
