Sat. Feb 4th, 2023

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.
Screen-Shot-2022-10-26-at-12.08.26-PM ‘Klondike’ review: Ukrainian Oscar submission from Maryna Er Gorbach is an uncompromising, startling look at war, displacement, and resistance

‘Klondike’ review: Ukrainian Oscar submission from Maryna Er Gorbach is an uncompromising, startling look at war, displacement, and resistance

Mina Takla October 27, 2022
The shooting of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at Donbas are both central to Maryna Er Gorbach’s powerful feature Klondike – but... Read More
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L-R) Kathryn Hahn as Claire, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, Edward Norton as Myles, Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel, and Kate Hudson as Birdie. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022. ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ review: Rian Johnson’s follow-up to his smash hit is a worthy sequel that entertains and grips throughout [B+] | Toronto

‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ review: Rian Johnson’s follow-up to his smash hit is a worthy sequel that entertains and grips throughout [B+] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 19, 2022
One of the most anticipated films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery arrives three years after... Read More
gazaweekend_01 ‘A Gaza Weekend’ review: Basil Khalil’s feature debut is an underwhelming, uneven comedy of finding human compassion in the direst of circumstances [C-] | Toronto

‘A Gaza Weekend’ review: Basil Khalil’s feature debut is an underwhelming, uneven comedy of finding human compassion in the direst of circumstances [C-] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 19, 2022
One of the most anticipated feature debuts at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend is the filmmaker’s follow-up to his... Read More
Screen Shot 2022-09-18 at 11.54.40 AM ‘The Fabelmans’ review: Steven Spielberg’s most personal film celebrates the art and struggles of telling stories through film [B+] | Toronto

‘The Fabelmans’ review: Steven Spielberg’s most personal film celebrates the art and struggles of telling stories through film [B+] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 18, 2022
In his most personal film to date, one that will certainly delight cinephiles as well as mainstream audiences who love his work, Steven Spielberg’s The... Read More
plan75_03 ‘Plan 75’ review: Chie Hayakawa’s feature debut is a heartbreaking look at isolation and displacement [B+] | Toronto

‘Plan 75’ review: Chie Hayakawa’s feature debut is a heartbreaking look at isolation and displacement [B+] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 18, 2022
Japan’s official submission for this year’s Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category, Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75 is an emotionally dense, harrowing look at... Read More
saintomer_01 ‘Saint Omer’ review: Alice Diop’s feature debut is a radical, unsettling, and fascinating look at motherhood [A-] | Toronto

‘Saint Omer’ review: Alice Diop’s feature debut is a radical, unsettling, and fascinating look at motherhood [A-] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 17, 2022
There are films that linger with you after the lights go back on. You keep thinking about them, their characters never leaving your thoughts, as... Read More
eo_02 ‘EO’ review: Jerzy Skolimowski’s film is a poetic, contemplative and heartbreaking account of human cruelty [A-] | Toronto

‘EO’ review: Jerzy Skolimowski’s film is a poetic, contemplative and heartbreaking account of human cruelty [A-] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 17, 2022
Certainly one of the year’s standout films, Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO is almost silent but says quite a lot about humanity, or lack thereof, showing us... Read More
worstones_02 ‘The Worst Ones’ review: Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka’s blurred reality drama is one of the most touching and illuminating films of the year [A-] | Toronto

‘The Worst Ones’ review: Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka’s blurred reality drama is one of the most touching and illuminating films of the year [A-] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 16, 2022
To create cinema, to tell a story, to perform in a film…these are all seemingly enjoyable yet inherently painful and arduous, simply because as a... Read More
WENDELL & WILD - (L-R) Kat (voiced by Lyric Ross) and Sister Helley (voiced by Angela Bassett). Cr: Netflix © 2022 ‘Wendell & Wild’ review: Henry Selick’s newest is a charming, bold and mostly satisfying film about wrestling with one’s demons [B] | Toronto

‘Wendell & Wild’ review: Henry Selick’s newest is a charming, bold and mostly satisfying film about wrestling with one’s demons [B] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 13, 2022
Following a string of acclaimed stop-motion animated features that have cemented him as one of the most exciting voices in the enchanting world of animation,... Read More
goodnurse_hero ‘The Good Nurse’ review: Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain are riveting in creepy true life murder mystery [B+] | Toronto

‘The Good Nurse’ review: Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain are riveting in creepy true life murder mystery [B+] | Toronto

Mina Takla September 12, 2022
Longtime Thomas Vinterberg collaborator, Tobias Lindholm, marks his English-language debut with The Good Nurse, a gripping thriller with mainstream appeal. Uncovering a harrowing true story... Read More
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