If you thought red carpets were dramatic, wait until Hollywood, Bollywood, and Arab superstars collide on Riyadh’s lavender carpet tonight.

The 6th Joy Awards is here, and Gulf News Manjusha Radhakrishnan will be there, front-row, keeping tabs on celebrity arrivals, jaw-dropping gowns, and every headline-making moment before it even hits your feed.

Held under the Riyadh Season umbrella and put together by the General Entertainment Authority, the Joy Awards has become way more than just an awards show. And yes, the lavender carpet — not the usual red — is part of the vibe. It’s a nod to Saudi identity: the purple wildflowers that bloom in the deserts, symbolising growth under Vision 2030, generosity, and a celebration of local heritage. Think of it as prestige with a cultural twist, giving the ceremony its own unmistakable look.

And did you know, the guest-list is a closely-guarded secret. Last year, that mix was next-level — Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Amanda Seyfried and Christina Aguilera all in one room. And while the Hollywood stars were turning heads, Egyptian cinema had its moment too, with Sons of Riz sweeping the public-voted categories.

Earlier editions have delivered their own surprises, with unexpected appearances from names like Matthew McConaughey, Alia Bhatt and Salman Khan, keeping audiences guessing until the very last minute.

This year, the first confirmations have already generated buzz. Nancy Ajram, the Arab world’s pop icon and a guaranteed crowd-puller, is among the stars officially announced, with expectations that more high-profile appearances will reveal themselves as the evening unfolds.

And yes — we’re low-key worried about the weather. Temperatures are expected to dip to 10°C, so gowns may need thermals, and blazers may need extra layers. If you spot someone on the lavender carpet looking like Joey Tribbiani wearing all of Chandler’s clothes, don’t worry — that’s just me, trying to survive in style. After all, nothing says “glamorous reporter” like three scarves, four jackets, and a questionable fashion choice that may or may not break social media.

While the ceremony itself will play out later in the night, the real tone is set much earlier. The lavender carpet is where fashion risks are taken, viral interviews are born, and the event finds its pulse long before trophies change hands.

Inside, the evening promises a slick, high-energy production, blending live performances with awards that reflect what audiences connected with most over the past year

Winners are determined entirely by public vote through the awards app, across six main categories: Music, Cinema, Drama Series, Directors, Sports and Influencers — keeping the results firmly in the hands of fans.

By the time the final award is announced, one thing is usually clear: the Joy Awards trades not just in trophies, but in moments.

GN

Tunisian filmmaker Zoubeir Jlassi on Saturday won the inaugural $1 million AI film award, launched in collaboration with Google’s Gemini, for his short movie, “Lily.”

He was declared the winner in a ceremony held during the second day of the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai where Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, presented the award.

The French-language short film, “Lily,” created entirely using Google’s generative AI tools — including Gemini, Veo 3, Imagen and Flow — was named after the filmmaker’s daughter, who inspired the story.

The nine-minute film follows a lonely archivist haunted by a doll caught on his car bumper during a hit-and-run accident, forcing him to confront his guilt, confess to the police, and reunite the doll with the injured child in the hospital.

“My daughter has a doll, which is also called Lily. This doll lived with us through our moments of grievances, joy, and victories,” Jlassi told Arab News.

He said the film, which took a month to complete, portrays the doll as the protagonist’s silent witness and secretkeeper, ultimately prompting his moral awakening and bringing him back to life. The film’s message, he added, is that routine can dull self-awareness, preventing people from confronting their own truths and taking responsibility for their mistakes.

“With this film, I hope to inspire aspiring filmmakers to dream, take ideas from their archives, execute them and share them on their own platforms without relying on large production budgets or expensive equipment,” he told Arab News.

“This is the beauty of technology; it unleashes creativity without limits.”

The winning film was selected from 3,500 film submissions from 16 countries, with organizers saying the award aimed to encourage the use of AI in producing meaningful films and enhance the creators’ ability to deliver humanitarian stories.

It also looked to empower young people to leverage technology in boosting their creativity and creating artworks that bridge cultures.

The shortlisting process took place over multiple stages. A jury of international technology experts and filmmakers selected 12 films based on the storytelling originality, narrative structure, visual aesthetics, creative use of AI technologies, overall creativity, emotional impact, and adherence to transparency and ethical principles.

The five finalists were selected after public voting of the works selected by the jury, organizers said.

Each film had to be powered by at least 70 percent generative AI tools from Google — including Veo, Imagen and Flow — or third-party platforms that run on Gemini’s technology. The tech company said that the entries underwent advanced technical assessment and AI verification to ensure submissions met the criteria.

The remaining finalists were “Portrait No. 72” by Rodson Verr Suarez of the Philippines; “Cats Like Warmth” by South Korean director Lee Su Yeol; “Heal” by Egyptian director Mohamed Gomaa; and “The Translator” by US-based Pylyp Li.

The top five AI-generated short films were screened on the first day of the 1 Billion Followers Summit, a gathering of content creators aiming to explore how new media can drive positive change and fuel sustainable economic growth.

ME

George Clooney is testing out the language of his new country while onstage at the Golden Globe Awards. 

At the starry 83rd annual ceremony on Jan. 11 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, Clooney, 64, spoke French onstage before presenting an award. The actor-filmmaker, his wife Amal and their kids Alexander and Ella were recently granted citizenship in France, per a naturalization decree obtained by the French newspaper Journal officiel and viewed by PEOPLE.

“Bonsoir, mes amis,” began the Jay Kelly Golden Globe nominee, wishing his friends in the crowd a good evening. “C’est un honneur d’être ici,” he added (“it’s an honor to be here”).

Joining him in the fun, Don Cheadle emerged for an Ocean’s Eleven reunion, throwing in some French as well by wishing Clooney a good evening with a “bonsoir.” Cheadle, 61, teased his costar in the heist franchise for losing in the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy category to Marty Supreme star Timothée Chalamet. “We’re all winners here,” said Clooney in protest. 

“Not really — you aren’t,” quipped Cheadle. 

The two old costars then presented the Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, which was won by Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet.

The news of Clooney’s French citizenship drew varied reactions, including from President Donald Trump on Dec. 31. “Good News! George and Amal Clooney, two of the worst political prognosticators of all time, have officially become citizens of France which is, sadly, in the midst of a major crime problem because of their absolutely horrendous handling of immigration, much like we had under Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

(The Ticket to Paradise actor then responded in a Jan. 2 statement: “I totally agree with the current president. We have to make America great again. We’ll start in November,” referring to the upcoming midterm elections.)

The French government also weighed in following the citizenship news. “We are delighted, like many French people, to welcome George and Amal Clooney into the national community,” said the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in a statement on Dec. 31.

The Clooney clan has lived in France since purchasing an estate there in 2021. “We live on a farm in France,” the Oscar winner said in an October interview with Esquire about family life in Europe. “A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid, I hated the whole idea of it,” said George. But for his 8-year-old kids, “they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.”

PEOPLE