Cannes Review: ‘Atlantics’ (Atlantique) is beautiful, painful and poetic
Mati Diop’s film, the first in competition feature for a black woman at Cannes, is as poetic as it is urgent Few films possess this... 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.
Cannes Review: ‘Rocketman’
Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John biopic is an entertaining if imperfect film with a fantastic performance from Taron Egerton Certain to draw comparisons to worldwide box... Read More
Cannes Review take two: ‘Les Misérables’ is “one of the most timely and urgent films of the year”
Ladj Ly’s debut feature is a stunning, explosive film that is both fresh and arresting Debut films selected in competition at Cannes are rare –... Read More
Cannes Review: ‘Bacurau’
For Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho, Bacurau is a step down from Filho’s masterful Aquarius and a middling political epic that doesn’t fully land.... Read More
Cannes Review take 2: ‘The Dead Don’t Die’
Jim Jarmusch’s most commercial film to date marks a departure for the director but also doesn’t offer a memorable viewing experience. Some directors like to... Read More
Cannes Review: ‘The Unknown Saint’ (‘Le Miracle du Saint Inconnu’)
Alaa Eldin Aljem’s debut feature is the rare Arab film that not only works as a meaningful comedy but also manages to be smart, audacious... Read More
2019 Oscars: The Foreign Language Film Shortlist Predictions
It’s that time of the year again! After enjoying so many wonderful Foreign Language Oscar contenders in Cannes, Venice, TIFF and Berlin, the Academy’s Foreign... Read More
2019 Oscars: A Look at African and Middle Eastern Films in This Year’s Foreign Language Oscar Race
Our weekly Foreign Language Oscar race analysis pieces continue after a short hiatus. This week, we take a look at a region that rarely gets... Read More
Interview: Hirokazu Kore-eda on why SHOPLIFTERS is a unique examination of family ties
With SHOPLIFTERS, Hirokazu Kore-eda has created one of, if not the most, significant film of his career. What sounded like a social critique turned out... Read More
2019 Oscars: A Look at Asian Films in This Year’s Foreign Language Oscar Race
Our weekly Foreign Language Oscar race analysis pieces continue this week with a special look at the Asian films in this year’s race. Asian films... Read More
2024 North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) Nominations 
2024 Philadelphia Film Critics Circle (PFCC) Winners: ‘Anora’ Named Best Film Among its Six Awards 
2024 Utah Film Critics Association (UFCA) Nominations 
2024 Black Reel Awards Nominations: ‘Nickel Boys,’ ‘The Piano Lesson’ Lead