Arab Cinema Center (ACC) announced the final list of the nominees for the Critics Awards in the categories of Best Film, Director, Writer, Actor and Actress. The initiative brings together 24 jury members from among the most distinguished Arab and foreign critics from 15 countries around the world, for the first time in the history of Arab cinema. Film Critic Ahmed Shawky has been appointed as Manager of the Critics' Awards. The jury members will vote for the best achievements in Arab cinema and the awards will be distributed within the upcoming round of the Cannes Film Festival (17 - 28 May).

Shawky commented on the award nominations list by saying, "The most prominent feature of the initiative is the clear interaction between the Arab and foreign critics involved, and the most important thing to be noted from the list of nominees is this wide diversity of choices. Nine films have reached the final competition from Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, reflecting the state of affluence experienced by Arab cinema during 2016 and which continued during the current year."

The jury had also included Egyptian critic Samir Farid and Palestinian critic Bashar Ibrahim, both of whom have passed away this year before, and have both been an integral part in the selection of the films for the awards' inaugural edition.

The final list of nominations was selected according to criteria which stipulated that the films be premiered at international film festivals outside of the Arab world during 2016, at least one of the production companies must be Arab (regardless of the size of its contribution in the production of the film), and they must be feature films (fiction or documentary).

Final list of Nominees for the Critics Awards:

Best Actor:

Majd Mastoura | Hedi | Tunisia

Ahmed Taher | Blessed Benefit | Jordan

Hisham Fageeh | Barakah Meets Barakah | Saudi Arabia

Best Actress:

Sarah Hannachi | Foreign Body | Tunisia

Heba Ali | Withered Green | Egypt

Julia Kassar | Rabih | Lebanon

Best Screenplay:

Clash | Egypt

Withered Green | Egypt

The Last of US | Tunisia, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon

Best Director:

Mohammad Hammad | Withered Green | Egypt

Mohamed Diab | Clash | Egypt

Ala Eddine Slim | The Last of US | Tunisia

Best Film:

Clash | Egypt

Hedi | Tunisia

In the Last Days of the City | Egypt, UAE

List of participating critics in nominating and selecting the Critics Awards winners (in Arabic alphabetical order):

Ibrahim Al-Arees | Lebanon

Ahmed Shawky | Egypt

Osama Abd El-Fatah | Egypt

Olivier Barlet | France

Bashar Ibrahim | Palestine, UAE

Deborah Young | USA

Dragan Rubesa | Croatia

Jay Weissberg | USA

Hussam Assi | Palestine, UK

Hamadi Keroum | Morocco

Khalil Demmon | Morocco

Ziad Khouzaie | Iraq, UK

Sydney Levine | USA

Tarek El-Shinnawi | Egypt

Abdul Sattar Naji | Kuwait

Erfan Rashid | Iraq, Italy

Ola Al-Sheikh | Palestine, UAE

Finn Halligan | UK

Kais Kassem | Iraq, Sweden

Mohammed Bougalleb | Tunisia

Mohammed Rouda | Lebanon

Nabil Hadji | Algeria

Nadim Jarjoura | Lebanon

Hauvick Habéchian | Lebanon

Houda Ibrahim | Lebanon, France