The Kuwait Film Festival announced the winners of its 1st edition on Tuesday. 

Ahmad Al Tarkit's film Aritaj took the first spot in the Kuwaiti Short Film category, followed by Khaled Al Rayes' Lamya Khonda in second place and Micha'al Al Hleil's Chai Haleeb in third. 

In the International Short Film category, Jenny Dez's Jihad in Hollywood, won first place, followed by Eden Brock's From Kuwait, which came in second, while Haya Al Ghanem's From City to City came in third. 

As for the Feature Length Documentary category, the winners were Habib Hussein's Art Behind Doors, which  took the first place, Abdel Aziz Al Mershed's Generation's Symphony that came in second, followed by Ali Hasan's Long Live Kuwait in the third position.  

The festival also handed out the Khaled Al Sedeeq honorary award to both Abdel Aziz Al Balam's Inside of Me and Ahmad Al Khadari's The Part that isn't Lost.

Al Sedeeq is one of the most highly regarded Kuwaiti filmmakers. His critically acclaimed films include the 1972 feature film Bas ya Baher.

The film revolves around the lives of pearl fishers in Kuwait and was the country's official entry to the forty fifth Academy awards. It was not selected as one of the five Best Foreign Picture nominees but went on to receive numerous international awards, including the Critics Choice Award at the 1972 Venice Film Festival. 

Kuwait's first film festival was launched last week in a ceremony where filmmakers, artists and cinephiles celebrated the 7th art in the country. 

Twenty three films were screened at the festival and competed in three different categories. 

At the festival's opening ceremony on Friday, its director Shaker Abel said, “the festival will not be limited to screening films, but will also be an ever expanding learning platform that enables film enthusiasts from around the world to meet, collaborate and exchange experiences and ideas,” according to Al Khaleej. 

The first edition of KFF also featured a series of lectures, presentations, discussion panels and workshops with leading industry figures from across the Arab world. 

The festival's jury included actor Mohammad Mansour, filmmakers Khaled Al Nasrallah and Naser Karmani, in addition to film critic Farouq Abdel Aziz and writer May Al Naqeeb, Al Khaleej reported. 

"There are three animals currently ruling the country: A crocodile ... a donkey ... and one that hasn’t been revealed yet."

While some may crack at smile at these words, regardless of the country they're referring to, they've landed one Lebanese activist in jail. His crime? Defamation and insulting high ranking officials, according to the judge that issued the arrest warrant.

Ahmad Amhaz was referring to President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri with the words in a post on social media. After receiving a tip about Amhaz' post, he was detained by police on March 21. 

Rights groups have come out in support of Amhaz, calling for his immediate release. And Hariri has actually responded via Twitter.

"I agreed with the president to drop our case in the lawsuit against Ahmad Amhaz and we have notified the attorney general."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that authorities interrogated Amhaz without a lawyer present. "The general prosecutor charged him under articles 383, 384, and 386 of Lebanon’s penal code, which criminalize criticism of public officials," the organization said in a statement. 

Amhaz faced up to two years in prison if convicted. He remains detained at the time of writing.

Prior to Hariri's announcement, rights groups strongly advocated for the release of Amhaz and criticized such actions by the Lebanese government.

"Lebanese authorities have established a troubling pattern of arresting and charging those who criticize government officials,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“The authorities should free Ahmad Amhaz and drop the charges against him, and parliament should repeal vague and over broad laws that criminalize free speech," she said

What is Ahmad’s crime? Opposing on Facebook? This is #freedom in the #age_of_theft.  

HRW has documented many cases of Lebanese authorities using defamation laws to target activists, lawyers and journalists. 

"Arresting someone for criticizing leading politicians serves no legitimate purpose but does undermine free speech in Lebanon,” Fakih said. 

“Lebanese authorities should guarantee the right to freedom of expression rather than attempting to quash criticism," she said.

Editors note: This article has been updated with Hariri's tweet and the information that the charges against Amhaz would be dropped.