Toronto Review: ‘Noura’s Dream’
Hinde Boujemaa’s debut feature is an interesting exploration of women’s rights in modern-day Tunisia Making her first feature film after several shorts, Hinde Boujemaa’s NOURA’S... 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.
Toronto Review: ‘The Perfect Candidate’ is a compelling tale of equality and politics in Saudi Arabia
Haifa Al Mansour’s latest is less effective than WADJDA but remains insightful and often engaging Saudi Arabia’s first-ever female filmmaker, Haifa Al Mansour is a... Read More
Toronto Review: ‘The Laundromat’ is a washout
Steven Soderbergh’s latest is an aimless, flat tale despite a timely premise A timey, topical film isn’t necessarily a good one, especially if it doesn’t... Read More
Toronto Review: Carice van Houten is stunning in the provocative Oscar contender ‘Instinct’
Halina Reijn’s debut feature is an explosive and subversive tale for the #Metoo era In her feature debut, which will represent the Netherlands in this... Read More
Toronto Review: Coming-of-age during wartime love story ‘1982’ is well-intentioned but doesn’t quite gel
Oualid Mouaness’ debut feature is an uneven story about love in the middle of war Making his feature debut after a successful career in directing... Read More
Toronto Review: ‘The Cave,’ a chilling but hopeful tale of female resilience
Feras Fayyad’s new doc is a heartbreaking but hopeful story of how resilience can overcome suffering In his much-anticipated follow-up to his Oscar-nominated LAST MEN... Read More
Toronto Review: ‘The Aeronauts’ is well-crafted with a winning performance by Felicity Jones
Tom Harper’s epic film is a mixed bag of elegance and emptiness Following his well-received Wild Rose, Tom Harper goes for a more epic adventure... Read More
Toronto Review: Not even Cynthia Erivo’s performance can save the deeply formulaic ‘Harriet’
Kasi Lemmons’ latest is a disappointing, uninspired biopic that fails to engage and whose subject deserves better Just because a film is about one of... Read More
Toronto Review: Full of grit, suspense and laughs, ‘Hustlers’ is an absolute knockout
Lorene Scafaria delivers one of the most surprising knockout films of the year and gives Jennifer Lopez her most compelling role to date Few films... Read More
Toronto Review: The elegant and eloquent ‘Marriage Story’ features a standout performance by Adam Driver
Noah Baumbach’s latest is a heartbreaking American masterpiece Likely to be regarded as one of the best films of the year come awards season, MARRIAGE... 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