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 Four Daughters, Ayten Amin’s Souad, Suhaib Gasmelbari’s Talking About Trees and Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away.

The prize, overseen by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), will be bestowed on Bugno at the awards ceremony for its 10th Critics’ Awards for Arab Films in Cannes on May 16.

In a release announcing the honor, the ACC said Bugno had built a career “defined by a rare combination of cultural sensitivity, curatorial rigor, and an unwavering commitment to reshaping the global cinematic landscape”.

The center continued that Bugno had played an influential behind-the-scenes role in championing independent voices from regions historically marginalized within the global film industry, and notably the Arab World.

“Central to Bugno’s philosophy is a rejection of Eurocentric frameworks and reductive narratives. His curatorial approach has consistently emphasized authenticity over conformity, guided by his long-held belief that ‘the more local, the more international’, it said.

It noted that Bugno also played a key role in shaping the Middle East focus of Open Doors at the Locarno Film Festival in 2007, an initiative that helped introduce emerging filmmakers from the region to European industry networks for the first time.

Bugno remains actively involved in other key industry initiatives. He serves as a curator for the TorinoFilmLab Feature Lab and is engaged in festival work in Bolzano/Bozen, while maintaining strong ties to major cultural hubs such as Berlin and Venice.

“Receiving this award brings me immense joy. It is deeply heartening to know that colleagues in the Arab World have viewed my work so positively over the years, particularly our efforts to amplify the voices of new filmmakers and champion innovative storytelling,” said Bugno.

“This achievement is not mine alone; it would never have been possible, whether through the WCF or other initiatives, without the passion and dedication of the incredible team and colleagues I’ve had the privilege of working with for years”.