And the result is a cinematic character that is as complex and wonderful as his role is short. But to know him in full you'll have to watch Antoine Barraud's spellbinding 'Madeleine Collins'.

While every film in the Venice Film Festival line-up this year appeared to be actual and meaningful, none more than Mounia Akl's 'Costa Brava, Lebanon' provided as urgent a watch because of the insight it delivers into the current crisis in the filmmaker's home country.

For Mounia Akl's impressive feature debut, which premiered at this year's Venice Film Festival, the Palestinian superstar infuses the character of Walid Badri with his own special brand of human vulnerability, in the story of a family whose existence is threatened by the corrupt politics and environmental disaster which plague their beloved country.

Egyptian helmer Mohamed Diab and his producer-wife Sarah Goher are at the Venice Film Festival promoting the film 'Amira', yet the conversation easily strayed to their work on upcoming Marvel series 'Moon Knight', as Jay Weissberg found out during his exclusive interview on the Lido.

The French-Algerian actor stars in 'Promises' world premiering in the Orizzonti competition at this year's Venice Film Festival.

'Our River... Our Sky' is the narrative feature debut by renowned London-based, Iraqi filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi and it world premiered at this year's Sarajevo Film Festival.

Mehdi Hmili's 'Streams' premiered at this year's Locarno Festival to rave reviews and MIME caught up with its star, Afef Ben Mahmoud for a sincere, candid talk about her character Amel, motherhood and the role of women in today's world -- and not just the Arab world.

The Cannes winner spoke to Alex Ritman at THR about trying to flee Afghanistan and how her cinema will change in these trying times.

Having grown up between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian-British filmmaker allows his audience a peek into the human side of oil production in Burma -- while also discovering a spiritual tie between the Asian country and his embattled homeland.

MIME's own E. Nina Rothe caught up with the rising star and they chatted about finding freedom in art, Haas' unconventional childhood and life in the midst of a pandemic.

"It wasn't something that, you know, I decided, I wanted the film to be slow like or have this base -- it developed throughout the whole process," Dagher told MIME.

Bobby Chinn was born of a Chinese-American father and an Egyptian mother and as he reconnects to his maternal homeland, he talked to MIME about food's healing ability, the power of one and chefs as luxury brands.

Born as a social project inspired by Joyner Lucas' song "I'm Not Racist", the YouTube rap video shows two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, hurling insults at each other, while a plate of hummus sits between them -- will they ever be able to talk to each other and share in the spoils of peace?

When Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz embarked on his first journey to Algeria to discover his paternal roots, he took his camera with him. The resulting film, a Special Screening at this year's Cannes Film Festival, is sheer perfection. We interviewed Aïnouz about it, as well as his upcoming first English language project.

Artist, filmmaker and Dubai-based B-Boy Philip Rachid has a film about hip hop culture in the Middle East featured on this year's online lineup of the Shubbak festival in London. We caught up with Rachid to find out more.

The first official competition film from Bangladesh, 'Rehana Maryam Noor' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, in Un Certain Regard to a standing ovation. MIME caught up with the young filmmaker.

At once insightful, engaging and funny, filmmaker Shahad Ameen opened up about how proud she feels of her native Saudi Arabia and why she'll never get tired of her film being labelled a "feminist fable"

A look at new talents to watch out for over the year

The Iranian-American comedian first appeared on our radar during the 'Axis of Evil' world tour, and now he shares his latest news on the Paris-based publication.

From the music halls of Cairo's Emad al-Din street, the Egyptian underground feminist movement was born, writes Devinder Bains on 'Harper's Bazaar Arabia'.

Amr Diab performed in Jeddah on June 18 and his recap video just dropped on YouTube -- hint, it's cool.

The festival will celebrate the leading star’s artistic journey and its impact on the Egyptian film industry, at their next and fifth edition to take place from October 14-22.

Ludmila Bitar is the founder of Ideo Parfumeurs, a Beirut-based fragrance brand that mixes lifestyle along with the arts, to form a universal appeal -- and here she shares her cinematic inspirations with MIME readers.

The actor stands behind a new study, a blueprint for inclusion and the just announced Pillars Artist Fellowship which aim to dispel the stereotypes, while highlighting and supporting the work necessary to rectify the problem.

This dark, surreal dramedy about one family discovering life after life stars one of the most distinguished actors from the Arab world and is part of a growing trend of streaming theatre productions in the US.

A group of filmmakers from culturally diverse backgrounds set out to make a film about the South Asian Muslim community in NYC and in the process, came up with the quintessential contemporary American movie.

The pioneering Saudi filmmaker's latest film, which premiered in Venice in 2019, is finally coming to a US screen near you and MIME got to interview her on the eve of the release.

The Lebanese filmmaker opens up about her beloved Beirut at a time of crisis and also discloses some of her innermost feelings, in an interview not to be missed!

Argentinian-born perfumer Julian Bedel’s connection with Qatar didn’t start off in the most idyllic way, but it sure ended up as a perfect match

Saleh Bakri opens up about Farah Nabulsi's 'The Present' which is nominated for the Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards this April.

New scheme part of Samsung’s commitment to deliver meaningful solutions that bring communities together

In person, the Saudi Arabian native is kind, illuminated, spiritually aware and an undeniably modern woman. In fact, she is the perfect example of a “woman’s woman”, the kind every one would want to be friends with, or claim as a sister — the complete opposite of her character Ms. Hussa, the unpleasant school mistress in Haifaa Al-Mansour's 'Wadjda'.

Shirin Neshat's artwork has long been a staple at the Venice Biennale. In 2017, she was on the Lido for a different reason - to present her film, a quiet masterpiece on legendary singer Oum Kulthum. Nina caught up with her then

As we eagerly anticipate Annemarie Jacir's upcoming series 'Mornings in Jenin' here is a vintage rapid fire round she conducted with Nina in 2017

With her latest film, shot in her native Saudi Arabia, filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour does once again what she does best: break down walls and help build bridges of understanding between cultures. 'The Perfect Candidate' is as much a story about three Saudi sisters thriving as it is about empowering women worldwide.