Oscar-winning actorMorgan Freemanwas celebrated at the fifth edition ofSaudi ArabiasJoy Awardsin Riyadh over the weekend, withAnthony Hopkinspresenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award on stage.
TheMillion Dollar BabyOscar winner, and the five-time nominee for films includingThe Shawshank RedemptionandDriving 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, whileMatthew McConaugheywas presented with the Personality of the Year Award.
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Sundays 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 Buble, Lebanese singing star Wael Kfoury, and Turkish singer-songwriter Tarkan.
Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman, & Christina Aguilera and Anthony HopkinsGetty Images
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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 Ozcivit, Tuba Buyukustun, French soccer star Thierry Henry, Egyptian cinema power couple Ahmed Helmy and Mona Zaki and Lebanese fashion designer Zuhair Murad.
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 Alarians Egyptian action movieSons 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 comedyFasel Men El Lahazat El Lazeeza, and Best Actor to Hesham Maged for action-comedyEx Merati, in which he plays a psychiatrist who discovers that that his wifes 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 ArabiasFirecrackers Youthwinning Favourite Gulf Series;Neama Al Avocato, Favourite Egyptian Series, andAlRawabi School for Girls, Favourite Levant Series.
Iraqi-Kuwait-based star Huda Hussain won favouriteFavourite Series Actress for Egyptian-Kuwaiti showZawja Waheda La Takfi, a family drama about a couple running an international school, and Syrian actor Samer Ismail, Favourite Series Actor, for MBC and Shahids cop showAl Ameel, an adaptation of the Turkish seriesIcerde.
In the music categories, Iraqi star Majid Al Mohandis hit El Jaw won Favourite Song while Saudi singer Ayed won Favourite Male Singer and Syrias Assala won Favourite Female Singer.
