Asma Abulyazeid Named Best Actress at Elia Short Film Festival

Egyptian actress, Asma Abulyazeid, just won Best Actress at the second edition of the Elia Short Film Festival, which took place in Jerusalem between September 12th and 17th, for her role in Eyebrows (Mate’lash ‘An El Hageb).

The film, which premiered and won the Golden Star Award for Best Arab Short Film at last year’s El Gouna Film Festival, is written by Haitham Dabour and directed by Tamer El AShry, marking the second collaboration between the two following 2017’s Photocopy.

Also starring Mariam El Khosht and Ali El Tayeb, the 21-minute film tells the story of Aiesha, a young burqa-wearing girl questioning right and wrong as she comes to terms with what she wants. The official Arabic title is borrowed from an Egyptian proverb meaning 'stay in your lane and know your limits'. 

A relative newbie to the world of film and TV, Abulyazeid burst onto the scene with roles in TV series such as Ana Shaheera, Ana Kha2en and Hadha Almasa, with roles in films such as Eyar Nari and Al Mammar cementing her as one of the Arab world's most promising young actresses.

The annual Elia Shoort Film festival is organised by an independent Palestinian initiative called ‘We Have a Cinema’, in partnership with local cultural and community organisations in the city.The festival presents the newest and most popular Palestinian, Arabic and international films that revolve around and tell the stories of humanitarian cases, in the spirit of raising public awareness both socially and culturally.

Photography courtesy of @MO4Network's #MO4Productions