Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was celebrated at the fifth edition of Saudi Arabia’s Joy Awards in Riyadh over the weekend, with Anthony Hopkins presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award on stage.
The Million Dollar Baby Oscar winner, and the five-time nominee for films including The Shawshank Redemption and Driving Miss Daisy, was among a number of honorees who also included Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Dune: Part One, The Lion King), Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and UK director Guy Richie, while Matthew McConaughey was presented with the Personality of the Year Award.
Sunday’s star-studded ceremony – which is part of the Riyadh Season consisting of a series of high-profile entertainment, cultural and sporting events – featured performances by Saudi Singer Mohammed Abdo, U.S. pop star Christina Aguilera, Zimmer, Bocelli, Canadian pop icon Michael Bublé, Lebanese singing star Wael Kfoury, and Turkish singer-songwriter Tarkan.
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Prior to the Joy Awards ceremony, Hopkins, who has recently lost his L.A. home in the Pacific Palisades blaze, was celebrated with a concert on Friday evening entitled Life Is A Dream and featuring a number of his music compositions played by an orchestra conducted by Matthew Freeman of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other guests at the Joy Awards ceremony included Hollywood stars Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland, Amanda Seyfried, Martin Lawrence, Cuba Gooding Jr; top Indian actor Hrithik Roshan as well as Turkish stars Burak Özçivit, Tûba Büyüküstün, French soccer star Thierry Henry, Egyptian cinema power couple Ahmed Helmy and Mona Zaki and Lebanese fashion designer Zuhair Murad.
Overseen by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA), the Joy Awards are voted on by the public and are aimed at shining a spotlight on the accomplishments of talent from the Gulf region, the wider Arab world, and internationally.
Public nominations closed in December 2024, after which the top four finalists in each category were named and then voted on via a dedicated app.
Top winners this year included Egyptian director Tarek Alarian’s Egyptian action movie Sons Of Risk 3, which won Favourite Movie and Favourite Film Director.
Best Actress in the cinema categories went to Hannah El Zahed for her performance in Egyptian parallel universe comedy Fasel Men El Lahazat El Lazeeza, and Best Actor to Hesham Maged for action-comedy Ex Merati, in which he plays a psychiatrist who discovers that that his wife’s ex-husband is a recently released violent criminal, who is now on his tail.
On the series front, prizes were meted out on a regional basis with Saudi Arabia’s Firecrackers Youth winning Favourite Gulf Series; Neama Al Avocato, Favourite Egyptian Series, and AlRawabi School for Girls, Favourite Levant Series.
Iraqi-Kuwait-based star Huda Hussain won favourite Favourite Series Actress for Egyptian-Kuwaiti show Zawja Waheda La Takfi, a family drama about a couple running an international school, and Syrian actor Samer Ismail, Favourite Series Actor, for MBC and Shahid’s cop show Al Ameel, an adaptation of the Turkish series Içerde.
In the music categories, Iraqi star Majid Al Mohandis’ hit El Jaw won Favourite Song while Saudi singer Ayed won Favourite Male Singer and Syria’s Assala won Favourite Female Singer.
The post Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Amanda Seyfried & Christina Aguilera Hit Star-Studded Joy Awards As Egyptian Picture ‘Sons Of Risk 3’ Tops Public-Voted Prizes appeared first on Deadline.