Director of God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya in ACC Talks on Instagram

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Film Critic Khalid Ali Interviews Winner of Best Film at the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films

Director of God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya in ACC Talks on Instagram


In the second episode of ACC Talks on Instagram, launched by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), film critic Khalid Ali will interview director Teona Strugar Mitevska, who won the Best Film award at the Arab Critics’ Award for European Films for her film God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya. The 1st edition of the Arab Critics’ Award for European Films was organized by the EFP (European Film Promotion) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC).

The second episode of ACC Talks will stream on the ACC’s official page on Instagram on Thursday, May 14 at 07:00 PM (GMT, Morocco), 08:00 PM (GMT +1, Tunisia), 09:00 PM (GMT +2, Egypt), 10:00 PM (GMT +3, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia), 11:00 PM (GMT +4, UAE).

The ACC Talks is a series of live weekly interviews where a jury member from the Critics' Awards for Arab Films and Arab Critics' Awards for European Films host interviews with international filmmakers. These talks will be available with Arabic and English subtitles across the ACC’s social media accounts, as well as on its website, acc.film.

God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya follows a Macedonian woman who throws herself into a traditionally men-only ceremony, kicking up a ruckus and standing her ground. The film world premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Guild Film Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Director Teona Strugar Mitevska previously won a Special Mention of the Panorama Award for her film Veta at the New York Film Academy.

Khalid Ali is a Sudanese-British film critic. He founded the first Arab forum for medicine in film, MedFest - Egypt. Ali has covered many international film festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival. He is currently the curator and programmer of the Sudan Independent Film Festival.

Organized by MAD Solutions, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) celebrates its sixth year since its inception in 2015. A nonprofit organization registered in Amsterdam, the ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC's activities vary between film markets, stands, and pavilions, networking sessions and one-on-one meetings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.

Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC's partners and their future projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.

The Arab Cinema Center announced the launch of the MAD 3ARABI (Arab Flow) in Prague, Czech Republic. The festival aims to introduce the Arab culture and focus on the film and TV industry, flowing Arab entertainment and culture onto European shores, and also providing an extension for Arab filmmakers and content creators in the entertainment industry to reach new shores.