The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films return for their eighth edition with a new line-up of 25 titles from across Europe. Presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), the initiative brings a broad range of current European filmmaking into focus for critics across the Arab-speaking world, creating new opportunities for European films and filmmakers to gain visibility beyond their home territories. Three finalists will be selected ahead of the awards presentation at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt (15–23 October 2026).
This year’s selection comes with a strong festival pedigree, bringing together films that have already made their mark at Cannes, Sundance, the Berlinale, CPH:DOX and Karlovy Vary. Lukas Dhont’s Coward competed in Cannes, where Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne jointly received the Best Actor award, and has since been selected as Belgium’s submission for the 2027 Academy Awards. Myrsini Aristidou’s Hold Onto Me picked up the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance and has since been selected as Cyprus’ submission for the 2027 Academy Awards. Also at Sundance, Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić’s To Hold a Mountain won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. Pepa Lubojacki’s If Pigeons Turned to Gold received both the Berlinale Documentary Award and the Caligari Film Award and has been selected as the Czech Republic’s submission for the 2027 Oscars.The Secret Reading Club of Kabul by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen took the NORDIC Award at CPH:DOX. Further honours came at Karlovy Vary, where Ivan Ostrochovský’s Only Beautiful Things to Look At and Mate Ugrin’s Petty Thieves received FIPRESCI Awards.Together, the 25 nominated films offer a snapshot of the diversity of contemporary European cinema, spanning fiction and documentary and bringing together established filmmakers and new voices from across the continent.
Click here for the full list of nominated films
“As we enter the eighth edition of the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films, we are delighted to see how the initiative continues to create space for European films to be discovered and discussed across the Arab-speaking world. This year’s selection brings together 25 films from 25 countries, each with its own voice, perspective and cinematic language. The critics play a crucial role in opening up these films to new audiences and creating a dialogue that reaches far beyond national borders,” says Jo Mühlberger, Deputy Managing Director of European Film Promotion.
Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, co-founders of the Arab Cinema Center, add: “As the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films reaches its eighth edition, we are proud of how the awards have grown over the years and of the role they continue to play in building a genuine bridge between European cinema and the Arab world. The participation of more than 100 Arab critics from across the region gives these films an opportunity to reach Arab audiences through diverse critical perspectives. This reflects one of the Arab Cinema Center’s key goals: to create continuous opportunities for exchange between Arab and international cinema, while supporting films and filmmakers in reaching new audiences and markets.”
Click here for the full list of Arab film critics by country
The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films were launched in 2019 by EFP and the ACC as a spin-off of the ACC’s established Critics’ Awards. The initiative aims to broaden the range of European films reaching the Arab-speaking world and to generate interest among distributors and the wider industry, while at the same time highlighting the role of Arab film critics in introducing new cinematic voices and perspectives to audiences across the region.
Previous winners include God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska (2019), Undine by Christian Petzold (2020), 107 Mothers by Peter Kerekes (2021), EO by Jerzy Skolimowski (2022), Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki (2023), The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof (2024) and Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin (2025).
The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films are made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
about arab cinema center
Organised by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is a non-profit organisation registered in Berlin. The ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organises. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialised in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC’s activities vary between film markets, stands, and pavilions, networking sessions, and one-to-one meetings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organisations and festivals, and the publication of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets. Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC’s website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine as well as news on the ACC’s activities, notification of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC’s partners and their future projects.
about el gouna film festival
El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) was founded in 2017 with the mission to showcase a diverse range of films catering to a creative and well-versed audience. Designed for artists and filmmakers, GFF aspires to foster communication between cultures and filmmakers to benefit the industry and our region through the art of filmmaking by connecting filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange. The festival is dedicated to the discovery of new voices and strives to be a catalyst for the development of cinema in the Arab world, particularly through its industry segment, CineGouna Platform.
