Preview: 9th Arab Film Festival Berlin
Arida, who is the hugely successful fashion blogger behind the brand N For Nour, took to the catwalk in a monochrome, sporty ensemble, complete with white ankle-length boots.
The social media star, who has a following of more than 270,000 on her Instagram account, closed the show in a surreal, almost Dali-like gown, which she paired with slicked-back hair and minimalistic make-up.
Lebanese designer Hussien Bazaza is a favorite among the Middle East's fashion insiders and is known for his whimsical, ethereal gowns.
Bazaza, who has dressed members of the Emirati and Qatari royal families and Arab superstars, was mentored by
Elie Saab before he launched his own line in 2012 and shot to fame for his off-the-wall creations.
In March, Bazaza was selected as one of the region's most influential personalities in the “Arab 30 under 30” list compiled by Forbes Middle East.
He also won the Best Emerging Designer award at The Middle East Fashion Awards in 2015 and has dressed celebrities and public figures such as Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Queen Rania of Jordan and British supermodel Naomi Campbell.
His latest collection features flowing gowns with a sharp, almost punk edge. Pixelated heart icons and anime-style faces are imprinted on tops and oversized bags while plunging necklines, glitter coats and thighhigh red boots also make an appearance.
American-Lebanese style icon Nour Arida opened the Hussein Bazaza FW18 runway show this week, showing off the up-and-coming designer’s creations to a packed out crowd in Beirut.
The Arab Film Festival Berlin (ALFILM) strides into its ninth edition this month with a line-up that leans heavily on hard-hitting documentaries, alongside gritty social dramas and short films.
The festival opens on April 11 with drama “Beauty and the Dogs,” from Tunisia's Kaouther Ben Hania — one of two Arab auteurs represented in the 2017 Cannes Film Festival's official selection. Other highlights include the comedic “Wajib,” a UAE co-production about a Palestinian expat who makes the journey home from Rome to Nazareth to hand out invites to his sister's wedding. DUBAI: Born in Saudi Arabia and raised partly in Dubai, the Khadra sisters, known around the world by their moniker “SimiHaze,” are famous for their high-flying lifestyle and superstar friends.
The Palestinianorigin sisters, who count Kylie and Kendall Jenner among their friends and regularly DJ at luxury events around the world, are not afraid to get political, however.
This week, the pair shared an image of a book relating to the issue of Palestinian statehood. A section of the text relating to the apparent limits of free thinking and debate on the IsraelPalestine issue had been highlighted.
“You're allowed to discuss whether the Mideast ‘peace process' should be implemented immediately… but you're not allowed to discuss the fact … that this so-called ‘peace process' wiped out a … diplomatic effort recognizing the national rights of both contenting parties…” an excerpt from the photographed passage read.
Come Saturday morning, however, the post had been removed despite garnering more than 1,900 likes on Friday night. The post had attracted thousands of comments, both positive and negative.
It is not clear why the sisters chose to remove the post, but it is not the first time they have used their social media presence to make a political statement. In December, they shared a photograph of the Dome of the Rock with a caption slamming US President Donald Trump's decision
to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. LOS ANGELES: Hollywood tough guy Arnold Schwarzenegger has conquered terrorists, mercenaries, aliens and futuristic robots on the silver screen but finds himself in a real-life fight for health after emergency heart surgery. The former bodybuilder turned action star, politician and climate activist was in a stable condition Friday, according to his spokesman, following the operation — a relief to fans of his 50-plus movies.
Living proof of the American dream, Schwarzenegger has transformed himself over the last half century from a poor Austrian country boy into a global celebrity and one-time leader of the world's sixthbiggest economy.
“I came here with absolutely nothing... And California has given me absolutely everything,” Schwarzenegger once said of his time as Republican governor of the famously liberal state.
The son of a one-time Nazi police chief, Schwarzenegger was born in the Austrian town of Graz on July 30, 1947, in an ancient house that had no plumbing, no phone, no carpets and just a few lights.
He went on to take Hollywood by storm after his big break in 1982's “Conan the Barbarian.” Two years later he won the role of a killer cyborg in “The Terminator,” melding humor, pathos and robotics into a new kind of cinema hero.
Nine of the 14 features in ALFILM's official selection are documentaries, and politics is rarely far from the frame. “Happily Ever After” portrays the insecurity of a generation of young Egyptians coming of age amid the era's political turmoil, while celebrated Syrian Civil War documentaries “My Paradise” and “Memory in Khaki” also feature. Elsewhere, “17” follows teenagers from the Jordanian football team preparing for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, hosted in Jordan, while the UAE co-production “Taste of Cement” documents the conditions of Syrian construction workers in Lebanon.
As well as contemporary fare, classic and overlooked pictures will be dusted off for the Spotlight selection, which tackles the theme “Reflections on Arab Masculinities” and is framed by two films from Algerian director Merzak Allouache: his 1977 classic “Omar Gatlato” and chilling companion piece “Madame Courage” (2015), while the section opens with the boundary probing 2017 Lebanese documentary “Room for a Man.”
“As a large part of audiences' interest is focused on political turmoil in the region, or issues like living conditions in different areas, the documentaries of our program offer insight through a cinematic language that caters to both the mind and the heart,” said head of program Claudia Jubeh. “So the question of social justice and labor is quite present in this year's selection — which I think is the Arab contribution to global questions.”