Founded in 2005, ikoo, E-Marketing then, has become the largest online advertising network in the Arab world, combining more than 120 websites from across the region, a network that attracts more than 35 million unique visitors, and serving more than 1.4 billion monthly page views. Since its launch, ikoo has been establishing premium partnerships with the region’s leading portals and top publishers, enabling advertisers to reach their audience through themed sub-networks like sports, women, news, social media, automotive, business, and many more. In addition ikoo has positioned itself as an online advertising hub using the latest technologies in online campaign management from DoubleClick, a world-class advertising platform. Khaled Jabasini, the founder and former CEO of ikoo, welcomed this acquisition and pointed out that ikoo will maintain its current position and will grow even further under the new management, "I'm proud today to see ikoo moving to Jabbar Internet Group, this is a big step for ikoo as it recognizes the success the company has achieved over the past few years." According to the new CEO Isam Bayazidi, ikoo will focus on expanding its network to embrace more publishers, and will work closely with advertisers and agencies on developing successful campaigns based on their needs. Bayazidi was quoted: "when it comes to online advertising, ikoo is by far the largest advertising space on the internet in the Arab world, the company succeeded in building an audience of millions of consumers from all walks of life." As well, Bayazidi announced the merger of Kalimat, a contextual advertising platform, with ikoo. "This would enable advertisers to automatically place and control their text advertising placement within the ikoo network." added Bayazidi. Samih Toukan, CEO of Jabbar Internet Group, commented on the acquisition of ikoo’s network saying "This acquisition comes as a natural move for our group, online advertising is a growing sector in the Middle East and ikoo has succeeded to build the largest ad network in the region, our decision to venture into this sector comes as part of ambitious plans to revolutionize the Arabic internet." Providing a flexible advertising platform including CPM, CPC and CPA advertising combined with ikoo’s reach and powerful targeting, advertisers are guaranteed optimized targeted campaigns that will achieve maximum ROI.

Sandra Bullock [1] continues to dominate the box office as her football drama The Blind Side claimed the No. 1 spot this weekend after three weeks in theaters, vaulting over The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Blind Side raked in $20.4 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from box office tracking firm Nielsen EDI. So far, the film has earned $129.3 million. "The movie has already done more than twice what we expected," says Jeff Goldstein of Warner Bros., which released The Blind Side. "I don't think Sandra is America's sweetheart; she's the world's sweetheart." Goldstein says the studio intentionally opened opposite New Moon as alternative programming for audiences not interested in a vampire romance. "We knew Twilight was going to get the younger females," Goldstein says. "So we went after the older ones. But everyone turned out." The Blind Side's unexpected performance comes on the heels of Bullock's romantic comedy The Proposal, which also surprised with $164 million – the 11th-highest-grossing movie of the year. "She has a girl-next-door quality to her that people relate to," Goldstein says. "This is clearly her year." Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com calls The Blind Side "a textbook case of how great buzz can create a long-term success." He says the picture is "well on its way to a $200 million domestic gross." New Moon is already there. The latest installment of the Stephenie Meyer series earned $15.7 million to raise its three-week total to $255.6 million. Brothers, the war drama starring Tobey Maguire [2], Jake Gyllenhaal [3] and Natalie Portman [4], was a surprise No. 3 with $9.7 million, almost $2 million more than analysts projected. Disney's A Christmas Carol continues to play well, pulling in $7.5 million to bring its five-week total to $115 million. Rounding out the top five is John Travolta [5]'s Old Dogs, which made $6.9 million. It was a middling weekend for other newcomers as the heist film Armored managed $6.6 million, slightly below expectations. Robert De Niro [6]'s Everybody's Fine met its modest expectations with $4 million. In limited release, George Clooney [7]'s Oscar bait Up in the Air did a healthy $1.2 million in 15 theaters for a $79,000 per-screen average. [1] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3978/sandra-bullock [2] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/4460/tobey-maguire [3] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/6256/jake-gyllenhaal [4] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/4126/natalie-portman [5] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3942/john-travolta [6] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3786/robert-de-niro [7] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/1884196/george-clooney

Hollywood's award season begins as the nominations for 67th Golden Globe Awards were announced at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. *Best Motion Picture -- Drama* Avatar The Hurt Locker [1] Inglorious Basterds Precious Up in the Air *Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Drama*Emily Blunt [2], The Young Victoria Sandra Bullock [3], The Blind Side Helen Mirren [4], The Last Station Carey Mulligan, An Education Gabire Sadibe, Precious *Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama * Jeff Bridges [5], Crazy Heart George Clooney, Up in the Air [6] Colin Firth [7], A Single Man Morgan Freeman [8], Invictus [9] Tobey Maguire [10], Brothers *Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy* (500) Days of Summer The Hangover It's Complicated Julie & Julia Nine *Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy* Sandra Bullock, The Proposal Marion Cotillard, Nine Meryl Streep, It's Complicated Meryl Streep [11], Julie and Julia *Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy* Matt Damon, The Informant Daniel Day Lewis [12], Nine Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes Joseph Gordon Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man *Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture* Mo-Nique, Precious Julianne Moore, A Single Man Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air Penelope Cruz, Nine *Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture* Matt Damon, Invictus Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones Christopher Plummer, The Last Station Christopher Waltz, Inglorious Basterds Woody Harrelson, The Messenger *Best Animated Feature Film* Coraline The Fantastic Mr. Fox Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs The Princess and the Frog Up *Best Foreign Language Film* Barria Broken Embraces A Prophet The White Ribbon *Best Director -- Motion Picture* Kathryn Bigelow, the hurt locker James Cameron Clint Eastwood Jason Reitman Quentin Tarantino *Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture* Up in the Air It's Complicated District 9 *Best Original Score -- Motion Picture* *Best Original Song -- Motion Picture* "I Will See You," Avatar "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart [1] http://www.shoofeetv.com/program/3652333/hurt-locker [2] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/22074/emily-blunt [3] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3978/sandra-bullock [4] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/4928/helen-mirren [5] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/7766/jeff-bridges [6] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/1884196/george-clooney [7] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/28646/colin-firth [8] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/29724/morgan-freeman [9] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/4460/tobey-maguire [10] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/4460/tobey-maguire [11] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3788/meryl-streep [12] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3132/daniel-day-lewis

George Clooney, Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep will be among the stars presenting at the Jan. 23 Screen Actors Guild Awards, it was announced Thursday. Clooney, a four-time SAG Award best actor winner, was nominated for his performance in Up in the Air. Baldwin, who will co-host the Oscars in March with Steve Martin, got a SAG Award nod again this year for the NBC hit show 30 Rock. Streep is up for leading actress for her role in Julie & Julia. Sandra Bullock, who is nominated for leading actress for The Blind Side, will present the Life Achievement Award to Betty White, her costar in The Proposal. Other presenters announced Thursday are Stanley Tucci, Anna Paquin, Chris O'Donnell, Jane Lynch and Michelle Monaghan.

"Inglourious Basterds" took home the trophy for best film ensemble -- the Screen Actors Guild’s equivalent of a best picture prize -- as the 16th annual SAG Awards, held at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, concluded Saturday night. The top film acting awards went to Jeff Bridges [1] for "Crazy Heart," Sandra Bullock [2] for "The Blind Side," Mo'Nique for "Precious" and Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds." The ceremonies kicked off two hours earlier as, for the fourth year in a row, Alec Baldwin [3] copped outstanding male actor in a comedy series for his work in "30 Rock." During the red carpet arrivals before the broadcast began, SAG handed out its stunt ensemble awards: Paramount's "Star Trek" took the prize for outstanding performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture, and Fox's "24" copped the TV stunt ensemble honors -- it's the second time "24" has picked up that prize. [1] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/7766/jeff-bridges [2] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3978/sandra-bullock [3] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/2968/alec-baldwin

For Sandra Bullock [1], sweeping up Hollywood awards is something new, but the actress said after winning a SAG trophy that she didn't want to be just a "money maker" in any kind of movie, and that her latest film "The Blind Side" gave her that chance. "If you look at my career, I don't think anyone would have said one day I can see her up here, no one would have predicted it, especially not me," Bullock, who was previously best known for light romantic fare, told reporters. On Saturday, Bullock, 45, won a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actress in a movie drama, for playing a wealthy family woman who adopts a downtrodden high school football player. That role in "The Blind Side" has performed at the box office like many of Bullock's movies, staying strong week after week, racking up a total of $231 million in the U.S. and Canada since its November release. But it has also done something else for Bullock, earning her critical acclaim and a string of awards, including a Golden Globe last week and now a SAG Award. When a reporter at the SAG Awards on Saturday suggested Bullock stands a good chance at winning her first Oscar, the actress "shushed" him mid-sentence and would not allow him to finish his question. She also said that at one point, just considering herself an actress was difficult. "I realized being an actor was something that I never owned up to, in a weird way," Bullock said. "I would be a hostess or a waitress or a house restorer before I considered myself an actor, because I never thought I was good enough," she said. But Bullock said she recently took a couple of years away from acting, and learned how to say "no" to mediocre roles, and that she also met her husband, motorcycle maker Jesse James, during that time. "I was lucky that I wanted to better my work ... and that's a great business to be in that allows you to sort of switch gears, especially when they look at you as the money maker," she said. Bullock first gained fame with 1994's action movie "Speed," which made $350 million at worldwide box offices, and she has been in a number of other hits since then, including the romantic comedy "Miss Congeniality." Now, as she embarks on a new stage in her career, Bullock described her life as more than just Hollywood. "I'm one of those people that knows how lucky she is and every day I get up and I count my blessings, and they're all there under one roof," she said. [1] http://www.shoofeetv.com/celebrity/3978/sandra-bullock

The noticeably emaciated "Easy Rider" star spent most of the ceremony seated, but after being carefully assisted up to the platform, he was quick to attribute the various bandages on his face and body to prying paparazzi. Dennis Hopper, who is said to be losing his battle with advanced prostate cancer, still managed to smile and exude that witty sense of humor as he addressed hundreds of fans, family, friends and press on Hollywood Boulevard while receiving the 2,403 star on the Walk of Fame on Friday. "Yesterday, I got up and out of the house and someone yelled 'Hey Dennis!' I thought I recognized the voice, so I kept walking and turned around but I didn't see the little ridge-line in the road and I took a terrible fall because I have no muscle,” Hopper, in his signature pageboy cap, said softly. "So I fell directly on my face, and I had my glasses in my hand. I got pretty screwed up. I know you (the paparazzi) have a tough job, but sometimes you should be a little more sensitive." The ailing actor then thanked his beloved friends and family for being the sculptors of his success. The 73-year-old was joined by a bevy of Tinseltown legends for the momentous occasion, including Jack Nicholson, David Lynch and Dwight Yoakam. And his close friend of over 20 years, Viggo Mortensen, gave an emotional insight into why Hopper truly is deserving of the coveted Hollywood star. "My love for him is unconditional. We have continued to share a mutual curiosity in our artistic way of living life. Dennis Hopper has remained a constant source of ideas, humor and inspiration," Mortensen said. "He keeps himself honest and those around him honest. His candor and his modesty inspire fearlessness in others – this sets him apart as an artist and as a friend." And what is it that Jack Nicholson loves most about his "Easy Rider" co-star? "Everything," he told Pop Tarts exclusively after the ceremony. Hopper's 19-year-old son Henry also attended the ceremony, but fled the scene visibly upset when questioned about his father’s health condition.

There's a natural expectation during any given season of "Dancing With the Stars" that you're going to see progress. People start out not knowing how to dance, and then they get better at dancing. That's the story viewers are supposed to be watching. Not this season. Four weeks into the competition, everyone is dancing almost exactly as they did at the beginning of the season. Consider this: Last season in the fourth week, seven out of 11 competitors remaining scored higher than a 21, and in "Dancing" parlance, its the score that means, "Eh, that was fine." This season, with nine stars remaining and each of them getting two different scores this week — one technical and one for "performance" for their rumbas and tangos — only three of them managed to beat a 21 on both parts: perennial favorites Nicole Scherzinger and Evan Lysacek, along with Pamela Anderson, whose tendency to pooch out her lips and make as many sexy faces as possible won over the judges on an overpraised rumba. Or try it this way: This season, over the first four weeks, the overall average judges' score only improved from a 19 to a 20.6. Last season, from the first week to the fourth, the average score on individual dances went from an 18.4 to a 22. The dancing was improving. Yes, that's partly because they started with a bigger cast and dumped weaker couples faster, but whatever the reason, there was more good dancing relative to the amount of not-so-good dancing. This season, there's little improvement. In fact, one of the only people who could plausibly claim real improvement this week is Chad Ochocinco, a charming and appealing guy with a nice sense of music but not much technical ability. He doesn't dance particularly well, but has at least started standing up straight with his rumba. The other, believe it or not, is Kate Gosselin, who excelled this week by laying down a tango that was almost certainly her least eyeball-gouging performance so far. Hers is a "nowhere to go but up" kind of improvement, but at least it's something.

Carrie Underwood made history at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, becoming the first woman to win entertainer of the year twice. Underwood won the show's top honor last year. This year, she beat out Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, the Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban. Top-selling trio Lady Antebellum were the dominant winners, grabbing five trophies, including song and single record of the year for crossover hit "Need You Now," while also snapping Rascal Flatts' seven-year run as best vocal group. "We are having a blast tonight," singer Charles Kelly told the crowd after win No. 4. "We love you all. We will never forget this night." Lady A came into the awards ceremony at the MGM Grand with a leading seven nominations and had won five of seven possible (they got two trophies for their single record of the year win because they also produced the record, and also got two trophies for their song of the year win because they composed "Need You Now"). Best bud Miranda Lambert had three trophies on the night. She beat Lady A's self-titled debut for album of the year with "Revolution." It was the second time she won the honor; her "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" won album of the year in 2007. She also beat Lady A in the video category with "White Liar" in awards given out Saturday night. Lambert didn't get to say much when she won album of the year. She started to address the crowd, then stopped short to make sure producer Frank Liddell got a moment in the spotlight. But as soon as he started to issue thank yous, he was cut off and the camera panned away, eliciting boos from the crowd. After a commercial break, she came back on stage to perform her latest single, "The House That Built Me," and got another chance to speak when she won top female vocalist, beating out the likes of Swift and Underwood. The tearful Lambert was in disbelief at her win. Lady A also had a connection to one of the night's other winners, Luke Bryan, who nabbed top new artist. Lady A's Kelley and Dave Haywood helped their good buddy write his hit, "Do I." Paisley, after a performance of his single "Water" where he fell backwards into a pool of water on stage, won top male vocalist of the year for the fourth consecutive time.

She's the heroine of the blockbuster Twilight franchise -- and gets to make out with Robert Pattinson -- but Kristen Stewart doesn't always put on a happy face at red carpet events and other appearances. "People say I'm miserable all the time," Stewart, 20, says in the June issue of Elle magazine. (At the Met Gala, the actress was ripped to shreds for the "Chanel catastrophe" that she donned for the NYC event.) She explains, "It's not that I'm miserable. It's just that somebody's yelling at me...I literally, sometimes, have to keep myself from crying," on the red carpet. "It's a physical reaction to the energy that's thrown at you." Then there's her demeanor on late night talk shows or awards fest. "It's funny that when I go onstage to accept an award, they think I'm nervous, uncomfortable, and awkward," Stewart quips, "and I am--but those are bad words for them." The edgy star also resents losing her privacy to worldwide fame. "Somebody knocked on my hotel room door and asked for a light, then said that they were a big fan. I was like, 'Do you really need me to light your cigarette? How do you know what room I'm in?' I can’t be by myself and I like being by myself." Stewart continues to be coy about her romantic status with costar Pattinson. "I would never cheapen my relationships by talking about them," she quips. "People say, ‘Just say who you’re dating. Then people will stop being so ravenous about it.’ It’s like, No they won’t! They’ll ask for specifics.”

US director Quentin Tarantino is to head the jury at this year's Venice Film Festival, it has been announced. The Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction creator will lead the panel of judges awarding the festival's main prize, The Golden Lion. He takes over the role from Taiwanese-born director Ang Lee, who led last year's jury that gave the Golden Lion to Israeli film Lebanon. This year's festival, which is held on The Lido, will run from 1-11 September. Tarantino was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010 for best director and screenplay for his hit movie Inglourious Basterds, which won a best supporting actor Oscar for Christoph Waltz. He won a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 for Pulp Fiction, but has never had a film in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Tarantino is seen as one of the rare auteurs in today's Hollywood and is ardent fan of Italian film, presenting retrospectives at Venice in previous years.

Hard times for the economy. Hard times for the Cannes Film Festival, at least in terms of splashy Hollywood films for which the world's most prestigious cinema showcase is known. Cannes opens Wednesday with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," one of the few A-list premieres at this year's festival, whose lineup has an undercurrent of economic themes. The timing of Cannes could not be better for "Robin Hood." The movie opens theatrically Wednesday in France and elsewhere over the next two days, including the U.S. debut Friday, so the media frenzy as Crowe and Blanchett strut the Cannes red carpet is great publicity as it tries to compete with current blockbuster "Iron Man 2." "It's an honor, but it's also bloody useful. Everything today is marketing. You've got to get positioned really fast. You better establish yourself in that opening week," said director Scott, who was not attending Cannes because of recent knee surgery. "We're very happy to be opening Cannes, because it's such an enormous venue and helps get your film out there." Along with "Robin Hood," starring Crowe as the roguish archer battling medieval robber barons, Cannes offers a first look at financial wolves of our own times with Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the followup to their 1987 hit "Wall Street." The 12-day festival also features director Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job," a documentary narrated by Matt Damon that examines the causes of the economic meltdown. The Directors' Fortnight, a lineup of films outside the festival's main program, also features Jean-Stephane Bron's "Cleveland vs. Wall Street," about a lawsuit against mortgage bankers the city blames for devastating real-estate foreclosures. Stone's "Wall Street" followup brings back Douglas' corporate raider Gordon Gekko. After getting caught in the first film, Gekko did eight years in prison, wrote a memoir and now is itching to get back into the trading game from which he is barred. Set amid the financial chaos of 2008, the new movie is not simply the further adventures of Gekko but a story about the runaway train Wall Street has become since the first film, Stone said. "Our movie goes beyond. We're not really chasing the movie, because it's 22 years later," Stone said. "We're trying to bookend it and say this is a new 'Wall Street,' this is 'Wall Street 2.' This is another time and place. Things have changed, and millions of dollars have now become billions of dollars." The new "Wall Street" co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin and Frank Langella, and it features a brief appearance from Charlie Sheen, reprising his role from the original. "Inside Job" is a nonfiction counterpart, chronicling the long prelude of greed and excess before the economy went bust. "A gigantic crisis was a quasi-inevitable result of the emergence over the last 30 years of investment banking as an unregulated, out-of-control, criminal industry," director Ferguson said. "As the industry grew and became wealthier, became more powerful, it progressively disabled all the alarm systems and corrupted all the people and institutions that should have restrained it and did restrain it prior to the 1980s." Brolin also co-stars with Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Freida Pinto in Woody Allen's ensemble romance, "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," which premieres at Cannes. Watts has another Cannes entry, co-starring with Sean Penn in Doug Liman's "Fair Game," in which she plays CIA covert operative Valerie Plame, whose identity was leaked by officials in the Bush administration. "Fair Game" is the only film by an American director among the 19 competing for the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize. As many as five American films have competed in past years, and festival director Thierry Fremaux said he hopes the scant American presence will be temporary. "The Cannes Film Festival must show more American films," said festival director Thierry Fremaux. "That's part of our tradition and part of what we want for the future." Most of the big-name films at Cannes, including Stone, Allen and Scott's movies, are screening out of competition. Others playing out of competition include Stephen Frears' comedy "Tamara Drewe," starring Gemma Arterton; Diego Luna's child drama "Abel"; and Olivier Assayas' five-hour-plus terrorism epic "Carlos," with Edgar Ramirez. The competition includes three films directed by past Palme d'Or winners: Mike Leigh's "Another Year," starring Jim Broadbent; Ken Loach's "Route Irish"; and Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy." Also in the running are two films from past winners of the festival's directing prize: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Biutiful," with Javier Bardem, and Bernard Tavernier's "The Princess of Montpensier." The fact that only 19 films are in the festival's main competition indicates that organizers had less to choose from this time. The competition typically includes 20 to 22 films. "Last year, numerous important directors were at Cannes. This year, most of these important filmmakers are writing or filming — working, in any case," Fremaux said. "The selection process was, therefore, a delicate matter, given the absence of all these filmmakers. The selection is a nice one, one which forced us to use our imagination."

Three past winners of the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival — Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Abbas Kiarostami — are in the running for the same award again as 19 films compete at the world's premier cinema showcase. Critics have been generally unimpressed with the lineup Cannes presented at the 12-day festival along the French Riviera, with a handful of films stirring some buzz but most of the entries premiering to lukewarm receptions. The festival ends Sunday night with the awards ceremony and a screening of the closing film, French director Julie Bertuccelli's "The Tree," a family drama starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, who won the best-actress award at Cannes last year for "Antichrist." Kristin Scott Thomas, who presided over the festival's opening ceremonies, handles the same duties for awards night. British director Leigh's ensemble drama "Another Year," featuring Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton, received favorable reviews, particularly for co-star Lesley Manville as a lonely middle-aged woman desperate for companionship. Leigh's "Secrets and Lies" won the festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, in 1996. Fellow British director Loach, whose "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" won that prize at Cannes in 2006, competes again with his Iraq War thriller "Route Irish." Iranian director Kiarostami, who earned the Palme d'Or in 1997 with "Taste of Cherry," is entered this year with his cryptic love story "Certified Copy," starring Juliette Binoche. Other solid contenders include Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Biutiful," starring Javier Bardem as a father on the edge of the law; Frenchman Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men," centered on a group of martyred monks in North Africa; and South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry," about a grandmother who finds solace writing poems amid the onset of Alzheimer's and troubles with her broody grandson. "Alice in Wonderland" director Tim Burton heads the jury that will decide on Cannes award winners. The nine-member jury also includes actors Kate Beckinsale and Benicio Del Toro and director Shekhar Kapur.

Like most of his feature films, Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" is set in Isan province, where he grew up. It playfully invokes both the lifestyle and animistic beliefs of the Northeast country folk, and the primitive magic of early Thai cinema, relating both of these to his musings on reincarnation. Since commercial returns or widespread support have never been factored into Weerasethakul's career, its surprise win of the Palme d'Or Sunday will seal its favorable future in festivals and specialist releases. Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) who is afflicted with acute kidney failure, returns to his country estate in Isan to spend his last days under the care of his devoted yet no-nonsense sister-in-law Jen (Jenjiro Pongpas), nephew Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee) and Jaai, a Burmese worker. One evening, while the family is relaxing on their terrace, the apparition of Boonmee's dead wife Huay (Nattakarn Aphaiwonk) appears, followed by long-lost son Boonsong. Boonsong, who looks like a Yeti with red laser beam eyes, recounts how his interest in photography led him deep into the jungle in search of Monkey Ghosts, until he himself is transformed into one. The matter-of-fact way in which the humans interact with dead or otherworldly beings make for some deadpan humor: upon seeing Thuy in halogenic form and Boonsong in a rubbery gorilla suit, Tong remarks, "I feel like the strange one here." There is also eerie poignancy in the way spiritual beings hover around Boonmee as they sense his impending transition to another world. The film was inspired by a book by a Buddhist abbot recording accounts of people who remembered their past lives. Although Boonmee attributes his illness to the karma of his having killed too many "Commies" and rid his farm of bugs, Weerasethakul does not broach the subject in terms of causality or retribution, nor does he tie Boonmee's past lives to any tangible persona or timeline. The cave which becomes his resting place is also where his first life began. The crucial point he recalls is that at his genesis, he was "neither human nor animal, neither man nor woman."