Arab documentary recognised for contribution to film

Festival has been praised for its services to Arab films A Lebanese feature documentary has been recognised for its achievements despite still only being in the development stage. City Can I Curse by Feyrouz Serhal was acknowledged by the Arab Fund for Art and Culture (AFAC) as aligning itself with the organisations values.
The documentary features two main characters: the director with her video camera, and the city of Beirut with its citizens. Over the course of one year, the director will roam the city with a light video camera, trying to make sense of the city’s contradictions and its ability to be charming and suffocating at once.
The award was bestowed during the closing ceremony of the seventh edition of the Ayam Beirut Al Cinema’iya festival of independent Arab films, which took place earlier this week at the Beirut Metropolis.
During the closing ceremony another award was given for the distribution of a feature documentary in its homeland. The award, presented by Screen Institute in Beirut (SIB), went to Mahdi Fleifel’s A World Not Ours.
The festival has promoted independent Lebanese and Arab Films since 2001, and brings together film professionals from all over the region.
This year’s event featured 50 films, nine funded by the AFAC. The festival has been praised for its services to Arab films.