Naji Abu Nowar's Theeb Wins Best Directorial Debut Award at Camerimage Film Festival in Poland

Back to Press Releases

Marking Its Second Award in Less than a Week

Naji Abu Nowar's Theeb Wins Best Directorial Debut Award at Camerimage Film Festival in Poland


Only a few days after receiving a Certificate of Appreciation at Cairo International Film Festival, which came to a close last Tuesday, Naji Abu Nowar's Theeb won Best Directorial Debut Award at the Directors' Debuts Competition within the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

The award went to Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar and Austrian cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler for their visual artistry. Held under the patronage of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP), the competition brings new discoveries and great movies of high artistic value and up-and-coming filmmakers, whose new ventures surprise not only the jury members but all audiences around the world as well. The jury was headed by American filmmaker and producer Albert Hughes.

On the heels of Camerimage, the film will take part in Tokyo FILMeX International Film Festival, which runs through November 22-30. Theeb will contend within the Tokyo FILMeX Competition against 9 new films by the best emerging filmmakers in Asia. The jury encompasses 5 international film professionals who will grant the winning film the Grand Prize.

Theeb received its Egyptian/African premiere at Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) and witnessed a great turnout as the screening was packed out with audience who were eager to see the film, resulting in an exceptional third screening the following day. Theeb received a Certificate of Appreciation at CIFF's Prospects of Arab Cinema Competition.

Recently, Theeb has contended at Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF), where it received its MENA premiere within New Horizons Competition and won two awards; namely, the New Horizons' Best Film from the Arab World and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Narrative Film. On the margins of ADFF, Jordanian filmmaker Naji Abu Nowar was named Variety Arab Filmmaker of the Year by Variety Magazine.

Set in the Arabian Desert of 1916, the film follows Theeb, a young Bedouin boy and his elder brother Hussein, as they leave the safety of their tribe to venture on a treacherous journey at the dawn of the Great Arab Revolt. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust and betrayal.

The film is produced by Bayt Al Shawareb, which was founded by Jordanian Writer and Producer Bassel Ghandour, in association with Rupert Lloyd's Noor Pictures and in co-production with Nasser Kalaji and Laith Majali's Immortal Entertainment, with Nadine Toukanas an Executive Producer. The film will be distributed across the Arab world by MAD Solutions, which will also handle Theeb's marketing across the region.