20/10/2025 - Ameer Fakher Eldin’s film has received the prize presented for the seventh time by European Film Promotion and the Arab Cinema Center

Ameer Fakher Eldin’s sophomore feature, Yunan [+see also:
film review
film profile], has won the seventh Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films, presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) in collaboration with the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) and hosted by the El Gouna Film Festival. The award was announced on 18 October during a ceremony at the festival.

Set on a remote North Sea island, Yunan follows an Arab man whose attempt to end his life is upended by encounters with a conservative local community and the force of nature, gradually reshaping his outlook. The film competed at this year’s Berlinale and is a multi-country co-production involving Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Delegate production comes from Hamburg-based Red Balloon, working together with Canada’s Microclimat Film and Italy’s Intramovies, which is also handling international sales. Additional producing partners include Palestine’s Fresco Films.

Director Ameer Fakher Eldin, who was unable to attend the festival in person, had the following to say about his victory: “To see Yunan now embraced by Arab critics as well feels profoundly moving. In a way, maybe it means the film has finally found its way home.” Main producer Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon), who accepted the award on site in El Gouna, said, "Ameer Fakher Eldin's films seem to transform me every time I watch them. The movies are so rich that I just find a new angle every time, another layer. Ameer is a brilliant observer and storyteller, a very old and wise soul in a young man’s body. I am very much looking forward to producing the third film in our trilogy.“

Now in its seventh edition, the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films convene critics from across the Arab world to watch the year’s nominated works and select a winner at El Gouna. This year’s finalists were Eva Libertad's Deaf [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Libertad
film profile], Georgi M Unkovski's DJ Ahmet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Georgi M Unkovski
film profile] and Yunan (see the news).

The award was launched in 2019 by EFP and ACC. It is a spin-off of the ACC’s now well-established Critics' Awards to boost film diversity in the region and raise the interest of sales companies and the industry in outstanding European films. This initiative also aims to cast a spotlight on the distinguished film critics from 15 Arab-speaking countries and their important role in opening up new perspectives and bridging cultural diversities. The previous winners were God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Labina Mitevska
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile] by Teona Strugar Mitevska (2019), Undine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile] by Christian Petzold (2020), 107 Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Kerekes
film profile] by Péter Kerekes (2021), EO [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jerzy Skolimowski (2022), Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Aki Kaurismäki (2023) and Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Directors Talks @ European …
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile] (2024).