Palestinian film wins Muhr Arab Feature award in the 8th DIFF

Palestinian director Susan Youssef Palestinian director Susan Youssef\'s film Habibi Rasak Kharban won the Muhr Arab Feature award at the 8th Dubai International Film Festival, which concluded Wednesday. Habibi also won Best Actress for Maisa Abdelhadi and best editing.
Habibi Rasak Kharban or (Darling, Something\'s Wrong with Your Head) is a dramatic feature that tells the story of a forbidden love in Gaza. The film is a modern re-telling of the famous ancient Sufi parable (Majnun Layla).
Jordanian film “Al-Juma Al-Akhiera” or (The Last Friday), also clinched three awards: the Special Jury Prize, Best Actor for Ali Suliman and best soundtrack (by the Trio Jubran).
The film is about a divorced forty-year-old taxi driver who is trying to gather the funds for essential surgery.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian short film,“Zafir” (Breathing Out) by  Omar El-Zohairy won a Special Mention at the Muhr Arab Shorts competition Omar El-Zohairy. Zafir is the first production of DayDream Company.
Mohamed Samir, the director of DayDream said that being awarded by an international film festival of such reputation is regarded as a strong push forward that supports the plans of the company which aims at producing creative work different from current mainstream cinema.
Zafir is a short feature film, 20 minutes long, addressing the state of an old couple of in their seventies, who live a life of silence filled with daily routine. The director tries - without a single word uttered by the main characters - to stress that silence may express more about inner feelings than verbally uttered words. He also referred to boredom as the natural outcome of maintaining the a daily routine.
Mazen and Jalila, the stars of the film, were selected by Omar El Zohairy among the residents of an elderly caring house. It was their first time on camera, enabling the filmmakers to make it seem as close-to-reality as possible.