There was one film that cleaned up at the Dubai International Film Festival's Muhr Awards.
Susanne Youssef's
Habibi
, a love story set in Gaza, took home the Best Film in the Muhr Arab section, along with Best Editor, Best Actress and the FIPRESCI International Prize of the Critics Best Feature Award.
"It's a miracle we even finished this film," said a rather emotional Youssef on collecting the Best Film award. "I hope that we can show it in Gaza."
Earlier at the awards ceremony, before the tears had begun to roll, Youssef collected her Best Editor from Peter Weir, who was heading up the jury panel. "
Dead Poets Society
was my favourite film when I was 12," said Youssef.
Interestingly, while
Habibi
clearly won over the critics in Dubai, it didn't do the same over at
Variety
magazine, which said the film showed "zero chemistry between the couple, harsh digital quality and a clumsy handling of drama".
You can't please everybody.
