‘The Assessment’ Review: Alicia Vikander Gives Parental Guidance in Mother Off with Elizabeth Olsen | TIFF
Parenthood can be hard, time consuming and daunting – but it can also be selfish. Beyond the desire to have a child that carries your... Read More
Mina Takla
Mina Takla is a foreign correspondent for AwardsWatch and the co-founder of The Syndicate, an online news agency that offers original content services to several film brands including Empire Magazine’s Middle East edition and the Dubai Film Festival. Takla has attended, covered and written for multiple film festivals online including the Dubai International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Annecy Film Festivals. He has been following the Oscar race since 2000 with accurate, office-pool winning predictions year after year. He writes monthly in Empire Arabia, the Arabic version of the world’s top cinema magazine and conducts press junkets with Hollywood stars in the UK and the US. He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing from Australia’s Wollongong University and is currently based in Dubai, UAE.
‘Eden’ Review: Ron Howard Delivers His Most Exciting Project in Years with Too Wild To Be True Sexy Social Thriller | TIFF
While watching Eden, it’s hard to imagine what you’re seeing on screen actually happened. But perhaps that’s the entire point of the film: the crazier... Read More
‘Happy Holidays’ Review: Scandar Copti’s Winning Screenplay Offers an Unflinching Look at the Impossibilities of Integration | TIFF
Fresh off a well-deserved Orizzonti Award win for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays lands at TIFF and does not... Read More
‘The Fire Inside’ Review: Rachel Morrison’s Directorial Feature debut is a Sincere Yet Unremarkable, By-the-Numbers Sports Biopic | TIFF
Award-winning cinematographer Rachel Morrison (the first woman ever Oscar-nominated for cinematography) makes her feature debut with The Fire Inside, an earnest yet conventional picture that... Read More
‘Việt and Nam’ Review: Trương Minh Quý’s Haunting and Melancholic Look at a Country Struggling with its Past | TIFF
Life can be a series of question marks that are never resolved. We may forever wrestle with the possibilities and scenarios, but we are never... Read More
‘To a Land Unknown’ Review: Mahdi Fleifel’s Unforgettable Feature Debut is a Rousing Reflection on Displacement | TIFF
In Mahdi Fleifel’s much-anticipated feature debut, following a number of widely acclaimed shorts, the refugee experience is depicted in ways very few films have succeeded... Read More
‘Perfumed with Mint’ Review: From Egypt’s Arab Spring Muhammed Hamdy’s Striking Debut of a Wounded Generation Was Born | TIFF
In 2011, Egyptians dreamt of change, social justice and an end to decades-long corruption. The January 25th revolution, led primarily by the younger generation was... Read More
‘The Girl with the Needle’ Review: Magnus von Horn Serves a Gripping and Bleak Tale of Unspeakable Violence | TIFF
In his third feature, Swedish filmmaker Magnus von Horn delivers a striking look at one of Denmark’s most haunting crimes. What could have been a... Read More
Interview: With ‘Shayda,’ Director Noora Niasari Celebrates Survival and Hope Rather Than Leaning into Victimhood
One of the most talked about films of Sundance 2023, Noora Niasari’s Shayda, connected with audiences and soon became a festival sensation. Representing Australia in... Read More
‘Four Daughters’ Review: Kaouther Ben Hania’s Inventive Documentary/Narrative Hybrid is One of the Best Films of the Year | Toronto
Love can be painful, hard and overbearing. That’s particularly true when it comes to maternal love in the Middle East, a region where love is... Read More
2024 Black Reel Awards Nominations: ‘Nickel Boys,’ ‘The Piano Lesson’ Lead 
2024 Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) Nominations 
Interview: ‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ Directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham on Bringing Back Two of Animation’s Most Beloved Characters [VIDEO] 
2024 Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCC) Winners: ‘The Beast’ Named Best Picture, Director; Kieran Culkin is Best Actor for ‘A Real Pain’