Vincenzo Bugno, the former longtime director of the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (WCF), will be feted with the inaugural Arab Cinema Gamechanger Award on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival this year.
Bugno was head of the WCF for 21 years prior to stepping down at the end of 2025. Under his direction, the fund evolved into a cornerstone of international co-production and circulation for films from Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Notable Arab world recipients under this tenure included Hala Lotfy’s Coming Forth By Day, Kaouther Ben Hania’s
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