Morocco’s "Halima" and Turkey’s "Night of Blindness" Win MENA Awards at Shanghai Film Festival
Two films from the MENA region received major awards at the Shanghai International Film Festival on 20 June 2026.
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At the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, two films from Morocco and Turkey won Golden Goblet Awards. Halima from Morocco received two awards, for Best Director and Best Actress, while Night of Blindness from Turkey won the award for Best Screenplay.
Yassine El Idrissi won Best Director for Halima, and Khadija Amari won Best Actress for her role in the film. In the screenplay category, Reis Çelik won Best Screenplay for Night of Blindness.
The Shanghai International Film Festival has been held since 1993. It is considered one of the most important cinema events in Asia. Its main competition section, the Golden Goblet Awards, honors films, directors, actors, and emerging talents from world cinema.
Halima
Winner of Best Director and Best Actress
Director: Yassine El Idrissi
Country: Morocco
Premiere status: World Premiere
The film, which marks Morocco’s return to the Shanghai International Film Festival after 27 years, had its world premiere at the festival.
Halima follows an elderly woman living a quiet life by the sea. Her calm world is suddenly disturbed by an unexpected phone call, which connects the present to a past she had buried deep in her memory.
The call begins the film’s movement between the present day and five years earlier, forcing Halima to confront a past shaped by the illegal cannabis trade. The film also portrays her effort to protect her home.
Yassine El Idrissi, a Moroccan director and screenwriter, worked as a photojournalist before entering cinema. Through his travels across Morocco, he met many different people. The character of Halima reflects those who live on the margins of society, but continue to face life’s hardships with courage.
El Idrissi’s ability to portray such a character earned him the Best Director award at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival. He studied at the Netherlands Film Academy and has directed short films and documentaries on themes such as freedom, dignity, and belonging. His earlier works have been screened at international film festivals.
Khadija Amari, the lead actress of the film, also won the festival’s Best Actress award. Previously known mostly for smaller roles in Moroccan cinema, and without a leading role in a feature film before this, Amari received one of the festival’s main acting honors for her performance in Halima.
Night of Blindness
Winner of Best Screenplay
Director: Reis Çelik
Countries: Turkey, Germany
Premiere status: World Premiere
Directed by Reis Çelik, Night of Blindness is a Turkey-Germany co-production that had its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
The film is a tense drama shot entirely in black and white. According to Çelik, this visual choice helped hide the emotional core of the story.
The story takes place during Turkey’s 1980 military coup. It follows Fatma, a political activist who, while trying to avoid arrest, is forced to trust a group of unknown workers inside the suffocating atmosphere of an unfinished building.
Night of Blindness is the second part of Reis Çelik’s Night Trilogy. The first film in the trilogy, Night of Silence, was made in 2012.
Turkish director Reis Çelik began his professional career as a journalist at the newspaper Dünya after graduation. He later worked for more than ten years at Günaydın.
During his career, Çelik has directed many commercials and 12 documentaries. His long professional experience also contributed to Night of Blindness receiving the Best Screenplay award at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival.