The Arab Cinema Center has published this year's “Golden 101”, its annual list of the 101 most influential figures in Arab cinema in its 22nd edition of Arab Cinema Magazine, which is being circulated at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival and can be accessed on the Marché du Film website.
Celebrating individuals and institutions who have made the most significant impact on the Arab film industry over the past twelve months, this year's Golden 101 comprises of 13 directors, 16 producers, 14 actors, five crew members, 18 distributors from 12 institutions, 12 executives from 10 governmental cinema institutions, 11 executives from seven video-on-demand platforms, 11 representatives from seven festivals, and seven executives from film financing institutions.
Commenting on this year's Golden 101 list, Colin Brown, Mad Solutions' Managing Partner for International Operations said; “These are the artists, artisans, and power brokers who have distinguished themselves this past year – and the rest of the world should pay attention to them if...
Celebrating individuals and institutions who have made the most significant impact on the Arab film industry over the past twelve months, this year's Golden 101 comprises of 13 directors, 16 producers, 14 actors, five crew members, 18 distributors from 12 institutions, 12 executives from 10 governmental cinema institutions, 11 executives from seven video-on-demand platforms, 11 representatives from seven festivals, and seven executives from film financing institutions.
Commenting on this year's Golden 101 list, Colin Brown, Mad Solutions' Managing Partner for International Operations said; “These are the artists, artisans, and power brokers who have distinguished themselves this past year – and the rest of the world should pay attention to them if...
- 5/17/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters lead the nominations for the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which will be held during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
Both features picked up seven nominations apiece for the awards, focused on Arab films that were produced and premiered outside of the Arab world in 2023. Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), it was voted on by 209 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during Cannes on May 18.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
This year’s nominees range from Sudan,...
Both features picked up seven nominations apiece for the awards, focused on Arab films that were produced and premiered outside of the Arab world in 2023. Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), it was voted on by 209 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during Cannes on May 18.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
This year’s nominees range from Sudan,...
- 4/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
‘Four Daughters’ & ‘Goodbye Julia’ Lead Nominations For 8th Edition Of Critics Awards For Arab Films
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated documentary Four Daughters and Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s Lupita Nyong’o-EPed drama Goodbye Julia lead the nominations in the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.
Hybrid work Four Daughters, exploring the story of a real-life Tunisian mother who lost two of her daughters to Isis after they were radicalized by a local preacher, world premiered in Competition in Cannes last year.
The film won Cannes’ Golden Eye for Best Documentary and also went on to be nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Kordofani’s Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia was also at Cannes in 2023, making history as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival across its 76 editions, with a debut in Un Certain Regard. It represented Sudan at in the 2023-24 Oscar race but was not nominated.
Set against the backdrop of the 2011 South Sudan Independence referendum,...
Hybrid work Four Daughters, exploring the story of a real-life Tunisian mother who lost two of her daughters to Isis after they were radicalized by a local preacher, world premiered in Competition in Cannes last year.
The film won Cannes’ Golden Eye for Best Documentary and also went on to be nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Kordofani’s Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia was also at Cannes in 2023, making history as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival across its 76 editions, with a debut in Un Certain Regard. It represented Sudan at in the 2023-24 Oscar race but was not nominated.
Set against the backdrop of the 2011 South Sudan Independence referendum,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
In a lull for specialty openings early in the new year, three foreign-language films are taking a shot. The Settlers, winner of the Cannes Un Certain Regard Fipresci Prize, and Inshallah A Boy are Cannes alumns and Oscar submissions from, respectively, Chile and Jordan (neither short-listed in a competitive field). Driving Madeleine is a crowd pleasing French film.
The Settlers is a western presented by Mubi in limited release at the IFC Center/NY and Laemmle Royal/LA. The debut feature by writer-director Felipe Galvez is a frontier epic set at the turn of the 20th century as three horsemen set out across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago tasked with securing a wealthy landowner’s vast property. Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary is mestizo marksman Segundo, who comes to realize their true mission is much darker. Stars Mark Stanley, Camillo Arancibia and Benjamin Westfall. Screenplay by Galvez and Antonia Girardi.
The Settlers is a western presented by Mubi in limited release at the IFC Center/NY and Laemmle Royal/LA. The debut feature by writer-director Felipe Galvez is a frontier epic set at the turn of the 20th century as three horsemen set out across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago tasked with securing a wealthy landowner’s vast property. Accompanying a reckless British lieutenant and an American mercenary is mestizo marksman Segundo, who comes to realize their true mission is much darker. Stars Mark Stanley, Camillo Arancibia and Benjamin Westfall. Screenplay by Galvez and Antonia Girardi.
- 1/12/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
When a man dies, intones the leader of a women’s wake, the light goes from the home. Nawal (Mouna Hawa), who has woken to find her increasingly tired husband Adnan has died in the night, bows her head with her accustomed piety as her very existence is erased by this prolonged eulogy to the man who is gone.
She still is here caring for their daughter, working long hours in a wealthy house as a nurse to an elderly woman with advanced dementia and maintaining a welcoming home in the flat they bought and were paying off together, using her inheritance as a deposit. That life isn’t mentioned, however. Nawal’s primary duty is to “safeguard the reputation” of her husband by staying inside for four months and 10 days. And if that is impossible, not to be outside the house after dark. “The devils roam the world after sunset,...
She still is here caring for their daughter, working long hours in a wealthy house as a nurse to an elderly woman with advanced dementia and maintaining a welcoming home in the flat they bought and were paying off together, using her inheritance as a deposit. That life isn’t mentioned, however. Nawal’s primary duty is to “safeguard the reputation” of her husband by staying inside for four months and 10 days. And if that is impossible, not to be outside the house after dark. “The devils roam the world after sunset,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi-Egypt production world premiered at Toronto and is in Competition at Red Sea
Front Row has taken theatrical rights in Saudi Arabia to Abu Bakr Shawky’s coming of age adventure Hajjan.
It will be released in Saudi through Front Row’s distribution joint venture with exhibitor Muvi Cinemas. Set in the world of Bedouin camel racing, the Saudi-Egypt production world premiered at Toronto and is in Competition at Red Sea.
Hajjan is a follow up to the Egyptian Austrian writer-director’s 2018 Cannes Competition debut Yomeddine. It is produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) along with...
Front Row has taken theatrical rights in Saudi Arabia to Abu Bakr Shawky’s coming of age adventure Hajjan.
It will be released in Saudi through Front Row’s distribution joint venture with exhibitor Muvi Cinemas. Set in the world of Bedouin camel racing, the Saudi-Egypt production world premiered at Toronto and is in Competition at Red Sea.
Hajjan is a follow up to the Egyptian Austrian writer-director’s 2018 Cannes Competition debut Yomeddine. It is produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) along with...
- 12/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Italy, Scandinavia, Australia-New Zealand all jump in on the film.
Amjad Al Rasheed’s Jordanian drama Inshallah A Boy has sealed several additional territory deals ahead of its Arab premiere in the Red Sea Competition at Red Sea Film Festival today (Saturday December 2).
The film has sold to Italy (Satine), Scandinavia (Angel Film), Australia-New Zealand (Palace), Benelux (Arti film), Switzerland (Trigon), Eastern Europe (HBO Europe) and Indonesia (Falcon).
Greenwich Entertainment acquired US distribution rights on the film in August; the film had its world premiere in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May and North American launch at Toronto in September.
Amjad Al Rasheed’s Jordanian drama Inshallah A Boy has sealed several additional territory deals ahead of its Arab premiere in the Red Sea Competition at Red Sea Film Festival today (Saturday December 2).
The film has sold to Italy (Satine), Scandinavia (Angel Film), Australia-New Zealand (Palace), Benelux (Arti film), Switzerland (Trigon), Eastern Europe (HBO Europe) and Indonesia (Falcon).
Greenwich Entertainment acquired US distribution rights on the film in August; the film had its world premiere in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May and North American launch at Toronto in September.
- 12/2/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Film Clinic is set to dominate the lineup of the highly anticipated third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival — which is scheduled to run from Nov 30, 2023 – Sat, Dec 9, 2023 — with the prolific production and distribution shingle boasting four of its titles in the festival. Coming in first in Arab Spectacular section titles Hajjan and Four Daughters. In Competition — Backstage and showcasing in the Festival Favourites section — Animalia.
Hajjan
Abu Bakr Shawky's latest Hajjan, produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) & Film Clinic. It had its World Premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival.– It is also produced by Mohamed Hefzy and Majed Zuhair Samman, co-produced by The
Imaginarium Films' Rula Nasser, and distributed by Film Clinic Indie Distribution in the Arab world while Film Constellation has the
worldwide rights. It revolves around brothers Matar and Ghanim, who live in the endless desert of Saudi Arabia.
Hajjan
Abu Bakr Shawky's latest Hajjan, produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) & Film Clinic. It had its World Premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival.– It is also produced by Mohamed Hefzy and Majed Zuhair Samman, co-produced by The
Imaginarium Films' Rula Nasser, and distributed by Film Clinic Indie Distribution in the Arab world while Film Constellation has the
worldwide rights. It revolves around brothers Matar and Ghanim, who live in the endless desert of Saudi Arabia.
- 11/12/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
At the memorial gathering for her husband Adnan, 30-year-old Nawal (a riveting Mouna Hawa) is offered many empty words of support and so-called comfort by friends and family. “When a woman loses her husband, she loses her lover, her partner, everything in her life,” clucks a commiserating neighbor. What she fails to mention is how much is not lost, but can, under the Jordanian legal system so scathingly exposed in Amjad Al Rasheed’s fluid, gripping “Inshallah a Boy,” be taken. Employment, home, child, dignity – all can be summarily stripped from a widow who has committed the grievous crime of never having borne a son.
Al Rasheed’s precision-tooled movie is a social-realist drama rendered as an escape thriller where the labyrinth that Nawal must navigate is the Jordanian social order itself, a massive bureaucratic, patriarchal maze designed to ensure that any woman trying to evade its clutches will batter...
Al Rasheed’s precision-tooled movie is a social-realist drama rendered as an escape thriller where the labyrinth that Nawal must navigate is the Jordanian social order itself, a massive bureaucratic, patriarchal maze designed to ensure that any woman trying to evade its clutches will batter...
- 10/7/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/29/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/29/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/28/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
London and Paris-based Film Constellation has taken international sales on Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky’s hotly anticipated Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan,” ahead of its Toronto Film Festival world premiere.
“Hajjan,” which will launch from Toronto’s Discovery section, is a followup to Shawky’s first feature “Yomeddine,” which had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes.
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine” – which involved the desert voyage of a leper, a donkey, and a child – “Hajjan” also involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The big-budget film, which was shot mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom, is about a young boy named Matar who, after the death of his brother on the camel race track, tries to avenge his death. To do...
“Hajjan,” which will launch from Toronto’s Discovery section, is a followup to Shawky’s first feature “Yomeddine,” which had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes.
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine” – which involved the desert voyage of a leper, a donkey, and a child – “Hajjan” also involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The big-budget film, which was shot mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom, is about a young boy named Matar who, after the death of his brother on the camel race track, tries to avenge his death. To do...
- 9/8/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Inshallah a Boy, the directorial debut of Amjad Al Rasheed which world premiered during the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week and is set to have its North American debut at TIFF next month.
Inshallah a Boy is being considered for Jordan’s Official Selection for Best International Feature Film and Greenwich will release the film in January.
The Imaginarium Films drama was co-written by Al Rasheed, Delphine Agut, and Rula Nasser. In the movie, after the sudden death of her husband, a widow fights for her inheritance to save her daughter and home. Inshallah a Boy examines a society where women are pressured to relinquish their property rights to male relatives and having a son would change everything.
“I’m beyond excited to collaborate with Greenwich on the upcoming theatrical release of my film,” said director Amjad al Rasheed.
Inshallah a Boy is being considered for Jordan’s Official Selection for Best International Feature Film and Greenwich will release the film in January.
The Imaginarium Films drama was co-written by Al Rasheed, Delphine Agut, and Rula Nasser. In the movie, after the sudden death of her husband, a widow fights for her inheritance to save her daughter and home. Inshallah a Boy examines a society where women are pressured to relinquish their property rights to male relatives and having a son would change everything.
“I’m beyond excited to collaborate with Greenwich on the upcoming theatrical release of my film,” said director Amjad al Rasheed.
- 8/21/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
In “Inshallah a Boy,” selected for Cannes’ Critics Week, women talk about sex and pregnancy. They also address misogyny and social injustice. But most of all, they say no.
“The main idea was to talk about a woman who refuses something that’s considered normal in her society,” points out director Amjad Al Rasheed, celebrating his feature debut.
In the Jordan-set film, Nawal (Mouna Hawa), after her husband’s sudden death, finds out that according to local inheritance law, and because she “only” gave birth to a daughter, his family might be entitled to everything she owns, including her home. Out of options, she pretends to be pregnant again.
Despite its Cannes premiere — and his previous win at Venice’s Final Cut — Al Rasheed remains cautious when discussing the film’s future reception at home.
“I can’t predict people’s reactions, but I am going to be honest: there...
“The main idea was to talk about a woman who refuses something that’s considered normal in her society,” points out director Amjad Al Rasheed, celebrating his feature debut.
In the Jordan-set film, Nawal (Mouna Hawa), after her husband’s sudden death, finds out that according to local inheritance law, and because she “only” gave birth to a daughter, his family might be entitled to everything she owns, including her home. Out of options, she pretends to be pregnant again.
Despite its Cannes premiere — and his previous win at Venice’s Final Cut — Al Rasheed remains cautious when discussing the film’s future reception at home.
“I can’t predict people’s reactions, but I am going to be honest: there...
- 5/18/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
‘Mena 360’ will spotlight the production and film financing opportunities in the Arab world.
The Cannes Market has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Neom Media Industries and Arab Cinema Centre to host a conference on the fast-growing opportunities in production, finance and talent in the Middle East and North Africa.
Titled ’Mena 360: Accessing the Largest Untapped Market’ in the World, it will run as part of the Cannes Next programme and comprise three panels exploring the best ways for the international industry to secure financing, partners, locations and talent from the region.
Mena executives and talent due to speak on the panels include Wayne Borg,...
The Cannes Market has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Neom Media Industries and Arab Cinema Centre to host a conference on the fast-growing opportunities in production, finance and talent in the Middle East and North Africa.
Titled ’Mena 360: Accessing the Largest Untapped Market’ in the World, it will run as part of the Cannes Next programme and comprise three panels exploring the best ways for the international industry to secure financing, partners, locations and talent from the region.
Mena executives and talent due to speak on the panels include Wayne Borg,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Cannes Critics’ Week Artistic Director Ava Cahen has unveiled the line-up for the 62nd edition of the parallel sidebar focused on first and second films, running May 17 to 25.
The compact selection will showcase 11 features, seven in Competition, and four as Special Screenings. Full details of the line-up can be found here. The short film line-up will be announced in the coming days.
This is Cahen’s second Selection as Artistic Director after a successful inaugural year in the role in 2022, topped by award-winning titles Aftersun, Alma Viva, Dalva and La Jauria.
Deadline talked to Cahen about the challenges of getting her second Selection over the line as well as some of the themes and trends to have emerged in the process.
Deadline: It’s your second Selection as Artistic Director after your well-received inaugural 2022 line-up. Did you find the process more difficult or easier this year?
Ava Cahen: It was different,...
The compact selection will showcase 11 features, seven in Competition, and four as Special Screenings. Full details of the line-up can be found here. The short film line-up will be announced in the coming days.
This is Cahen’s second Selection as Artistic Director after a successful inaugural year in the role in 2022, topped by award-winning titles Aftersun, Alma Viva, Dalva and La Jauria.
Deadline talked to Cahen about the challenges of getting her second Selection over the line as well as some of the themes and trends to have emerged in the process.
Deadline: It’s your second Selection as Artistic Director after your well-received inaugural 2022 line-up. Did you find the process more difficult or easier this year?
Ava Cahen: It was different,...
- 4/17/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Roll up, roll up, it’s our annual list of U.S. and international movies that could have festivals (and audiences) salivating in 2023. As ever, two of our main criteria are that the project is already in production and hasn’t yet been declared for a festival. This isn’t an exhaustive list but a healthy snapshot of some highlights from around the world. Enjoy!
Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve’s anticipated Dune sequel recently wrapped filming. The sci-fi follow-up is currently set for a November 2023 debut and expectations are that it will launch on the Lido like the first film in the series. Pic sees Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem returning with new cast members Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux and Christopher Walken. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s official synopsis reads: “This follow-up film will explore the mythic...
Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve’s anticipated Dune sequel recently wrapped filming. The sci-fi follow-up is currently set for a November 2023 debut and expectations are that it will launch on the Lido like the first film in the series. Pic sees Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem returning with new cast members Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux and Christopher Walken. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s official synopsis reads: “This follow-up film will explore the mythic...
- 1/2/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman, Melanie Goodfellow, Zac Ntim, Diana Lodderhose and Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Red Sea panel discusses crew crunch in Mena.
Arabic countries cannot rely on servicing international productions alone to develop below the line talent, but must also look to local content to tackle shortages of skilled crew across the region.
Speaking on a panel at the Red Sea Film Festival titled ’A Region Full of Opportunities’, Rula Nasser, founder and producer at Jordanian production company The Imaginarium Films, stressed the importance of local productions in training up talent in the region who can then work in senior roles on both homegrown projects and international features.
“We are the one who can...
Arabic countries cannot rely on servicing international productions alone to develop below the line talent, but must also look to local content to tackle shortages of skilled crew across the region.
Speaking on a panel at the Red Sea Film Festival titled ’A Region Full of Opportunities’, Rula Nasser, founder and producer at Jordanian production company The Imaginarium Films, stressed the importance of local productions in training up talent in the region who can then work in senior roles on both homegrown projects and international features.
“We are the one who can...
- 12/4/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Red Sea Souk Seeks to Become Key Film Market for Middle East, North Africa as Local Box Office Booms
The Red Sea Souk, the four-day industry market of the Red Sea Film Festival, is positioning itself as the principal film market for the Middle East and North Africa.
This year’s second edition includes two development competitions, a work-in-progress competition, and the Red Sea 360º event, held in association with Winston Baker, with 13 industry panels.
The projects selected for the development and pic-in-post competitions are competing for 400,000 in Red Sea Fund awards, plus sponsor awards worth 430,000 in cash and 126,000 in kind.
Last year’s first edition had over 3,500 accredited industry professionals and organizers expect an even larger turnout this year, with execs from 46 countries.
Attendees include international sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and a 30-person team from Netflix, with the streamer participating in two industry panels.
The Red Sea Souk is integrated within the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation’s wide strategy to create an eco-system for the development,...
This year’s second edition includes two development competitions, a work-in-progress competition, and the Red Sea 360º event, held in association with Winston Baker, with 13 industry panels.
The projects selected for the development and pic-in-post competitions are competing for 400,000 in Red Sea Fund awards, plus sponsor awards worth 430,000 in cash and 126,000 in kind.
Last year’s first edition had over 3,500 accredited industry professionals and organizers expect an even larger turnout this year, with execs from 46 countries.
Attendees include international sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and a 30-person team from Netflix, with the streamer participating in two industry panels.
The Red Sea Souk is integrated within the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation’s wide strategy to create an eco-system for the development,...
- 12/3/2022
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Stars and industry execs attend Jeddah for second edition of the festival.
International filmmakers including Guy Ritchie, Luca Guadagnino, Spike Lee, Andrew Dominik, Fatih Akin, Adil El Arbi & Bilal Fallah, Gaspar Noe and Kaouther Ben Hania and actors Andy Garcia, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Chan, Nelly Karim, Ranbin Kapoor and Hrithik Roshak are among the talent heading to this month’s Red Sea International FIlm Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to participate in talks and in-conversation events.
Gurinder Chadha is delivering a Master Class session.
Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of Red Sea, said: “Our schedule of In-Conversations taking place at...
International filmmakers including Guy Ritchie, Luca Guadagnino, Spike Lee, Andrew Dominik, Fatih Akin, Adil El Arbi & Bilal Fallah, Gaspar Noe and Kaouther Ben Hania and actors Andy Garcia, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Chan, Nelly Karim, Ranbin Kapoor and Hrithik Roshak are among the talent heading to this month’s Red Sea International FIlm Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to participate in talks and in-conversation events.
Gurinder Chadha is delivering a Master Class session.
Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of Red Sea, said: “Our schedule of In-Conversations taking place at...
- 12/1/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Cairo Film Festival’s Cairo Film Connection co-production market spread the love at an award ceremony Sunday night, with 15 projects claiming 20 prizes in the Egyptian capital valued at some 225,000.
Among the standouts were Suzannah Mirghani’s “Cotton Queen” and “Lamp in the Dark,” from Sudanese filmmaker Mahdi El-Tayeb, which both took home awards from marketing and distribution outfit Mad Solutions for distribution in the Arab world with a 50,000 minimum guarantee.
Set in a cotton-farming village in Sudan, “Cotton Queen” — which won the ArteKino Award at the Cannes Film Festival’s L’Atelier this year — follows a teenage girl as she begins to question cultural expectations and the collapsing cotton industry, under threat from both insect and human pests. “Lamp in the Dark” turns on a generational clash in a Sudanese village after the arrival of a mobile cinema.
No film won more than two prizes, with Amjad Al Rasheed...
Among the standouts were Suzannah Mirghani’s “Cotton Queen” and “Lamp in the Dark,” from Sudanese filmmaker Mahdi El-Tayeb, which both took home awards from marketing and distribution outfit Mad Solutions for distribution in the Arab world with a 50,000 minimum guarantee.
Set in a cotton-farming village in Sudan, “Cotton Queen” — which won the ArteKino Award at the Cannes Film Festival’s L’Atelier this year — follows a teenage girl as she begins to question cultural expectations and the collapsing cotton industry, under threat from both insect and human pests. “Lamp in the Dark” turns on a generational clash in a Sudanese village after the arrival of a mobile cinema.
No film won more than two prizes, with Amjad Al Rasheed...
- 11/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi dedicates award to ‘women of Iran and younger generation.’
Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s directorial debut drama A Tale of Shemroon won the Marrakech International’s Film Festival’s Etoile d’Or grand prize as the nine-day festival wrapped its 19th in-person edition over the weekend.
The Farsi and French-language film takes place north of Tehran and follows a boy and his younger brother who, following the death of their mother, attempt to launch a quick money-making business to help their family, but end up getting caught up in an illegal drug trade and Tehran’s wealthy world of corruption.
Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s directorial debut drama A Tale of Shemroon won the Marrakech International’s Film Festival’s Etoile d’Or grand prize as the nine-day festival wrapped its 19th in-person edition over the weekend.
The Farsi and French-language film takes place north of Tehran and follows a boy and his younger brother who, following the death of their mother, attempt to launch a quick money-making business to help their family, but end up getting caught up in an illegal drug trade and Tehran’s wealthy world of corruption.
- 11/20/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Amjad Al Rasheed’s “Inshallah A Boy,” Luck Razanajaona’s “Disco Afrika,” and Boubacar Sangaré’s “A Golden Life” claimed a trio of post-production prizes at this year’s Atlas Workshops, which ran from Nov. 14–17 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival.
The Moroccan festival’s industry platform, this 5th edition of the Atlas Workshops saw a return to in-person events after two years online, and with it, a welcome reception from the 250 professional delegates who turned out to support the 23 selected projects – in development, production and post-production – with mentorship sessions, targeted consulting and, finally, 109,000 in prize money split between the eight winning titles.
Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed, produced by Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films, and winner of this year’s top prize at Venice Final Cut, the Jordanian drama “Inshallah A Boy” can now add a 25,000 Atlas Workshops post-production grant to an already hefty list honors (that...
The Moroccan festival’s industry platform, this 5th edition of the Atlas Workshops saw a return to in-person events after two years online, and with it, a welcome reception from the 250 professional delegates who turned out to support the 23 selected projects – in development, production and post-production – with mentorship sessions, targeted consulting and, finally, 109,000 in prize money split between the eight winning titles.
Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed, produced by Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films, and winner of this year’s top prize at Venice Final Cut, the Jordanian drama “Inshallah A Boy” can now add a 25,000 Atlas Workshops post-production grant to an already hefty list honors (that...
- 11/18/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Marrakech — Filmmaker teams from as far afield as Burkina Faso, Qatar and Palestine headed to Morocco this weekend for the Production and Post Production section of industry and talent mentoring program the Atlas Workshops, which runs Nov. 14-17 at the Marrakech Film Festival.
“There has been a big interest in Arab cinema for a few years now,” said Thibaut Bracq, head of Atlas Workshops. “The support came at the right moment. Big festivals now have an interest in attending our event because they know there are interesting projects in this and other sections.”
Hot titles include “Disco Africa,” the first feature from Madagascar to take part in the program. With connections to the city, Luck Razanajaona, the filmmaker, studied in Marrakech at the École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel.
Meanwhile, “Inshallah a Boy,” which is in early post production, is the first feature to take part from Jordan. People familiar with the...
“There has been a big interest in Arab cinema for a few years now,” said Thibaut Bracq, head of Atlas Workshops. “The support came at the right moment. Big festivals now have an interest in attending our event because they know there are interesting projects in this and other sections.”
Hot titles include “Disco Africa,” the first feature from Madagascar to take part in the program. With connections to the city, Luck Razanajaona, the filmmaker, studied in Marrakech at the École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel.
Meanwhile, “Inshallah a Boy,” which is in early post production, is the first feature to take part from Jordan. People familiar with the...
- 11/14/2022
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
Six awards will be presented with two ‘in-kind’ prizes.
Filmmakers Houda Benyamina and Yasmine Benkiran, and Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona Nazzaro are among the jurors for the industry programme of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 1-10).
French director Benyamina, Moroccan filmmaker Benkiran and Nazzaro comprise the jury of the Work-In-Progress showcase, which selected six feature projects in post-production last month. The trio will award a 30,000 post-production prize.
Benyamina’s solo directorial debut Divines won the Camera d’Or for best debut feature at Cannes in 2016. She is in post-production on her next film Toutes Pour Une.
Filmmakers Houda Benyamina and Yasmine Benkiran, and Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona Nazzaro are among the jurors for the industry programme of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 1-10).
French director Benyamina, Moroccan filmmaker Benkiran and Nazzaro comprise the jury of the Work-In-Progress showcase, which selected six feature projects in post-production last month. The trio will award a 30,000 post-production prize.
Benyamina’s solo directorial debut Divines won the Camera d’Or for best debut feature at Cannes in 2016. She is in post-production on her next film Toutes Pour Une.
- 11/10/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Amjad Al Rasheed’s feature debut “Inshallah a Boy” – co-produced by Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – was awarded La Biennale di Venezia Prize at Final Cut, an industry program at the Venice Film Festival dedicated to films from African and Arab countries.
Shot in February, with mostly Jordanian crew, it was lensed by Kanamé Onoyama.
In the story, a mother and a housewife – played by Mouna Hawa, known for “In Between” – has to face the sudden death of her husband. According to the inheritance law, his family is entitled to most of her belongings, including the home she paid for herself – just because she doesn’t have a son. Desperate, she pretends to be pregnant.
“So many people ask us: ‘Is this real? Do you really have this law?!’ It’s inspired by the experience of someone I know, someone close to me. But when we started to develop the story,...
Shot in February, with mostly Jordanian crew, it was lensed by Kanamé Onoyama.
In the story, a mother and a housewife – played by Mouna Hawa, known for “In Between” – has to face the sudden death of her husband. According to the inheritance law, his family is entitled to most of her belongings, including the home she paid for herself – just because she doesn’t have a son. Desperate, she pretends to be pregnant.
“So many people ask us: ‘Is this real? Do you really have this law?!’ It’s inspired by the experience of someone I know, someone close to me. But when we started to develop the story,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut, dedicated to films in post-production from African and Arab countries, wrapped its anniversary 10th edition on Sept. 5. As fest director Alberto Barbera welcomed the audience to “the final stage of the Final Cut,” La Biennale di Venezia Prize – and cash award of € 5,000 – went to “Inshallah a Boy,” directed by Amjad Al Rasheed.
Jurors Claire Diao, Rasha Salti and Gaetano Maiorino praised it for “brilliant direction and performances, tackling a really dramatic social issue and for honoring the resilience of women in a conservative context.”
The film, a co-production between Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is overseen by Rula Nasser for The Imaginarium Films.
“We are just proud we made something that speaks to people,” she told Variety after the ceremony.
“We are still a conservative society, but this protagonist, this woman, she’s strong. She decides she needs to stand up and say:...
Jurors Claire Diao, Rasha Salti and Gaetano Maiorino praised it for “brilliant direction and performances, tackling a really dramatic social issue and for honoring the resilience of women in a conservative context.”
The film, a co-production between Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is overseen by Rula Nasser for The Imaginarium Films.
“We are just proud we made something that speaks to people,” she told Variety after the ceremony.
“We are still a conservative society, but this protagonist, this woman, she’s strong. She decides she needs to stand up and say:...
- 9/6/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Jordan’s Royal Film Commission has pulled Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s drama “Amira” – which was filmed in Jordan and is set in the Palestinian West Bank – as its submission to the 2022 international feature Oscar race following a storm of social media controversy against the film.
Pic, which takes its cue from real-life instances of Palestinian children conceived behind bars in Israeli jails with smuggled sperm, has suddenly prompted a rapidly increasing number of Palestinian activists to protest on Twiter and other social media. The film premiered in Venice in September and subsequently played at the El Gouna fest in Egypt and the Carthage fest in Tunisia.
Since 2012, more than 100 children have been conceived using the smuggled sperm of incarcerated Palestinians, according to the end titles of the film which revolves around a teenage girl who believes she was conceived from the sperm of a Palestinian activist serving a life sentence.
Pic, which takes its cue from real-life instances of Palestinian children conceived behind bars in Israeli jails with smuggled sperm, has suddenly prompted a rapidly increasing number of Palestinian activists to protest on Twiter and other social media. The film premiered in Venice in September and subsequently played at the El Gouna fest in Egypt and the Carthage fest in Tunisia.
Since 2012, more than 100 children have been conceived using the smuggled sperm of incarcerated Palestinians, according to the end titles of the film which revolves around a teenage girl who believes she was conceived from the sperm of a Palestinian activist serving a life sentence.
- 12/9/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Film revolves around a West Bank teenager conceived via the smuggled sperm of a Palestinian prisoner.
Jordan’s Royal Film Commission has withdrawn Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s drama Amira as its submission to the 2022 international feature Oscar race following a local backlash against the film.
Filmed in Jordan and set in the Palestinian West Bank, the film was inspired by the true phenomenon of children conceived using the smuggled sperm of Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails.
It revolves around the fictional tale of a teenage girl who believes she was conceived from the sperm of a famous Palestinian activist serving a life term.
Jordan’s Royal Film Commission has withdrawn Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s drama Amira as its submission to the 2022 international feature Oscar race following a local backlash against the film.
Filmed in Jordan and set in the Palestinian West Bank, the film was inspired by the true phenomenon of children conceived using the smuggled sperm of Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails.
It revolves around the fictional tale of a teenage girl who believes she was conceived from the sperm of a famous Palestinian activist serving a life term.
- 12/9/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Acquisitions include upcoming films Yousry Nasrallah, Muayad Alayan and Mohamed ben Attia.
Cairo-based film company Mad Solutions has unveiled an acquisition slate of more than 50 Arabic-language titles from 13 different territories that it plans to get into festivals and cinemas across the Middle East and North Africa in 2021 and 2022.
“During the pandemic, we used the opportunity to discuss the objectives and goals for Arab films, to strengthen links with the public, and to be a part of projects from the beginning, developing the films together,” said company co-heads Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab. “We feel that there is a bright future...
Cairo-based film company Mad Solutions has unveiled an acquisition slate of more than 50 Arabic-language titles from 13 different territories that it plans to get into festivals and cinemas across the Middle East and North Africa in 2021 and 2022.
“During the pandemic, we used the opportunity to discuss the objectives and goals for Arab films, to strengthen links with the public, and to be a part of projects from the beginning, developing the films together,” said company co-heads Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab. “We feel that there is a bright future...
- 5/28/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The submissions deadline for the International Oscar category at the 93rd Academy Awards may have now passed, but a few last-minute contenders are still being confirmed, including Saudi Arabia which has put forward Scales.
The Image Nation movie is written and directed by Shahad Ameed. It explores the changing role of women in society through the allegorical, magical-realist tale of Hayat, a young girl who refuses to be sacrificed to mysterious sea creatures by her village.
The black-and-white movie premiered at Venice last year. Variance Films has rights in North America. Pic was released in Saudi Arabia last month.
The film was produced by Paul Miller and Stephen Strachan of Abu Dhabi-based Film Solutions and Rula Nasser of Imaginarium Films, with executive producers Mohamed Al-Daradji and Majid Al-Ansari.
The Image Nation movie is written and directed by Shahad Ameed. It explores the changing role of women in society through the allegorical, magical-realist tale of Hayat, a young girl who refuses to be sacrificed to mysterious sea creatures by her village.
The black-and-white movie premiered at Venice last year. Variance Films has rights in North America. Pic was released in Saudi Arabia last month.
The film was produced by Paul Miller and Stephen Strachan of Abu Dhabi-based Film Solutions and Rula Nasser of Imaginarium Films, with executive producers Mohamed Al-Daradji and Majid Al-Ansari.
- 12/21/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi director Shahad Ameen‘s feminist fable “Scales” has been selected as Saudi Arabia’s official candidate for the Oscar in the international feature film category.
“Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children to monstrous mermaids lurking in the sea. The groundbreaking film launched from the 2019 Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, where it won the Verona Film Club award for innovative filmmaking, and has since been shown at a slew of other festivals, including London, Carthage, Cairo, Singapore, where it won best picture, and at SXSW 2020.
In November 2020, “Scales” was released theatrically in Saudi Arabia. Variance Films will release the film in the U.S. next year.
“I have only ever wanted ‘Scales’ to be seen, enjoyed and to act as a catalyst for wider conversations about gender roles,...
“Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children to monstrous mermaids lurking in the sea. The groundbreaking film launched from the 2019 Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, where it won the Verona Film Club award for innovative filmmaking, and has since been shown at a slew of other festivals, including London, Carthage, Cairo, Singapore, where it won best picture, and at SXSW 2020.
In November 2020, “Scales” was released theatrically in Saudi Arabia. Variance Films will release the film in the U.S. next year.
“I have only ever wanted ‘Scales’ to be seen, enjoyed and to act as a catalyst for wider conversations about gender roles,...
- 12/21/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Jordanian multihyphenate Bassel Ghandour since graduating from USC film school has among other things worked closely with Kathryn Bigelow on “The Hurt Locker,” and penned and produced Naji Abu Nowar’s groundbreaking Bedouin Western “Theeb.” Now he is making a splash with his first feature as director “The Alleys,” even before its launch.
Ghandour’s multi-character tale, which is now in post, is set – and was shot – in a claustrophobic neighborhood in East Amman called Jabal Al Natheef where violence, and gossip, run rampant. “The Alleys” involves a young hustler named Ali who pretends to be a white-collar career man, his secret love interest Lana, and an extortion attempt that brings Lana’s mother and an older cutthroat gangster into the picture. The promising pic just scored several prizes at the Cairo Film Festival’s Cairo Film Connection co-production market.
“Ali is a hustler who takes tourists to dodgy night clubs in exchange for kickbacks,...
Ghandour’s multi-character tale, which is now in post, is set – and was shot – in a claustrophobic neighborhood in East Amman called Jabal Al Natheef where violence, and gossip, run rampant. “The Alleys” involves a young hustler named Ali who pretends to be a white-collar career man, his secret love interest Lana, and an extortion attempt that brings Lana’s mother and an older cutthroat gangster into the picture. The promising pic just scored several prizes at the Cairo Film Festival’s Cairo Film Connection co-production market.
“Ali is a hustler who takes tourists to dodgy night clubs in exchange for kickbacks,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The films are tipped for 2021 festivals.
Egyptian director Sameh Alaa’s coming-of-age story I Can Hear Your Voice… Still and Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s drama The Alleys, have led the awards at the Cairo Film Connection, the co-financing platform of the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff).
Eleven projects in development and four works in post-production were showcased at the event which meted out prizes from some 19 organisations worth $250,000 in total
I Can Hear Your Voice… Still won the $10,000 Arab Radio Television (Art) prize, a $10,000 cash award from Egyptian production and distribution company Red Star Films, as well as participation...
Egyptian director Sameh Alaa’s coming-of-age story I Can Hear Your Voice… Still and Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s drama The Alleys, have led the awards at the Cairo Film Connection, the co-financing platform of the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff).
Eleven projects in development and four works in post-production were showcased at the event which meted out prizes from some 19 organisations worth $250,000 in total
I Can Hear Your Voice… Still won the $10,000 Arab Radio Television (Art) prize, a $10,000 cash award from Egyptian production and distribution company Red Star Films, as well as participation...
- 12/10/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit Mad Solutions is launching Mad Rising Celebrity, a new unit dedicated to launching up-and-coming film and TV acting talents from across the Arab world.
The new Mad Solutions subsidiary has recruited a rich roster of rising Arab actors comprising Saudi Arabia’s Fatima AlBanawi (pictured) – who starred in groundbreaking Saudi comedy “Barakah Meets Barakah,” and more recently landed a small role in new Netflix Arabic original “Paranormal” – and Tunisian thesp Farès Landoulsi, featured in Netflix drama “Messiah,” among other rising celebrities.
“Nobody has been working on new Arab talents,” noted Mad Solutions co-founder Alaa Karkouti, speaking to Variety. He added that besides filling the gap by representing actors the new unit also intends to start handling up-and-coming Arab directors, writers, producers and cinematographers.
Karkouti also noted that Mad Solutions – which has long been active as an Arab world film distributor and has been branching...
The new Mad Solutions subsidiary has recruited a rich roster of rising Arab actors comprising Saudi Arabia’s Fatima AlBanawi (pictured) – who starred in groundbreaking Saudi comedy “Barakah Meets Barakah,” and more recently landed a small role in new Netflix Arabic original “Paranormal” – and Tunisian thesp Farès Landoulsi, featured in Netflix drama “Messiah,” among other rising celebrities.
“Nobody has been working on new Arab talents,” noted Mad Solutions co-founder Alaa Karkouti, speaking to Variety. He added that besides filling the gap by representing actors the new unit also intends to start handling up-and-coming Arab directors, writers, producers and cinematographers.
Karkouti also noted that Mad Solutions – which has long been active as an Arab world film distributor and has been branching...
- 11/16/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“Wild Roots,” a drama about a lonely, ex-con bouncer who is reunited with his wild child daughter, has won the Works in Progress Award at Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary Film Festival‘s industry section.
In the debut feature from director Hajni Kis, the two outsiders bond, but the father’s vehement nature and a family secret stand between them. The Hungary-Slovak Republic coproduction will receive a cash prize of Euros 10,000.
The jury described the film, produced by Júlia Berkes and Balázs Zachar, as “visually compelling,” and displaying a “distinct directing style and promising talent.” It added the director displays a “skilful ability to engage both professional and nonprofessional actors,” and delivers a “profoundly moving and intriguing story.”
The jury included Gabor Greiner, COO of Films Boutique, Faruk Güven, head of co-productions at Turkish Radio and TV Corporation, and Vanja Kaludjerčić, festival director at Rotterdam Film Festival.
Works in Progress included...
In the debut feature from director Hajni Kis, the two outsiders bond, but the father’s vehement nature and a family secret stand between them. The Hungary-Slovak Republic coproduction will receive a cash prize of Euros 10,000.
The jury described the film, produced by Júlia Berkes and Balázs Zachar, as “visually compelling,” and displaying a “distinct directing style and promising talent.” It added the director displays a “skilful ability to engage both professional and nonprofessional actors,” and delivers a “profoundly moving and intriguing story.”
The jury included Gabor Greiner, COO of Films Boutique, Faruk Güven, head of co-productions at Turkish Radio and TV Corporation, and Vanja Kaludjerčić, festival director at Rotterdam Film Festival.
Works in Progress included...
- 7/10/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Father-daughter drama ‘Wild Roots’ won the top prize at the Eastern Promises industry showcase.
Wild Roots, the feature debut of Hungarian director Hajni Kis, has won the Works In Progress award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s industry showcase, Eastern Promises.
A cash prize of €10,000 was awarded to the Hungary-Slovak Republic co-production by Turkey’s Trt.
Wild Roots, which is in post-production, centres on an aggressive ex-con whose troubled 12-year-old daughter seeks him out following his release from prison. The cast includes Gusztáv Dietz, Zorka Horváth and Éva Füsti Molnár.
Co-written by Kis and Fanni Szántó, the producers are...
Wild Roots, the feature debut of Hungarian director Hajni Kis, has won the Works In Progress award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s industry showcase, Eastern Promises.
A cash prize of €10,000 was awarded to the Hungary-Slovak Republic co-production by Turkey’s Trt.
Wild Roots, which is in post-production, centres on an aggressive ex-con whose troubled 12-year-old daughter seeks him out following his release from prison. The cast includes Gusztáv Dietz, Zorka Horváth and Éva Füsti Molnár.
Co-written by Kis and Fanni Szántó, the producers are...
- 7/9/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the leading cinema event in Central and Eastern Europe, has unveiled the projects that will be showcased during the online edition of its industry program, Eastern Promises.
Eastern Promises will feature a total of 41 film projects, which will be presented as part of its various sections – Works in Progress, First Cut+ Works in Progress, Docs in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, and Eurimages Lab Project Award. The presentations of projects to industry professionals will take place July 6-8, and the most promising projects will receive awards of the total value of Euros 165,000.
In order to attend the online program, film industry professionals must be registered (click here) by June 22 at the latest.
Works in Progress
The Works in Progress sessions will be presented online on July 6 at 14:00-17:00 Cet and July 7 at 14:00-17:00 Cet.
The Trt prize of 10,000 Eur will be...
Eastern Promises will feature a total of 41 film projects, which will be presented as part of its various sections – Works in Progress, First Cut+ Works in Progress, Docs in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, and Eurimages Lab Project Award. The presentations of projects to industry professionals will take place July 6-8, and the most promising projects will receive awards of the total value of Euros 165,000.
In order to attend the online program, film industry professionals must be registered (click here) by June 22 at the latest.
Works in Progress
The Works in Progress sessions will be presented online on July 6 at 14:00-17:00 Cet and July 7 at 14:00-17:00 Cet.
The Trt prize of 10,000 Eur will be...
- 6/17/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Variance Films has acquired the North American theatrical rights to Shahad Ameen’s debut drama of magical realism Scales. the film, which comes from Image Nation Abu Dhabi will be released theatrically later this year.
Written and directed by Saudi Arabian filmmaker Ameen, the visually enticing Scales is described as a “feminist parable set in a dystopian landscape”. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival’s Critics Week, where it won the Verona Film Club Award. It was also set to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Shot on location in Oman, the story follows a young girl by the name of Hayat. She lives in a poor fishing village which has a dark tradition where every family must give one daughter to the mermaid-like sea creatures who inhabit the waters, to ensure the village can continue their fishing expeditions.
Written and directed by Saudi Arabian filmmaker Ameen, the visually enticing Scales is described as a “feminist parable set in a dystopian landscape”. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival’s Critics Week, where it won the Verona Film Club Award. It was also set to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival before it was canceled due to the pandemic.
Shot on location in Oman, the story follows a young girl by the name of Hayat. She lives in a poor fishing village which has a dark tradition where every family must give one daughter to the mermaid-like sea creatures who inhabit the waters, to ensure the village can continue their fishing expeditions.
- 4/29/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
It is the third feature by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab after ’678’ and ’Clash’.
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired international rights to Mohamed Diab’s coming of age drama Amira, excluding Arab-language territories and Israel. CAA Media Finance is handling Us rights.
The film wrapped shooting in Jordan this week.
Sister company Pyramide Films will handle the French release, having previously handled Diab’s Clash and 678.
The Palestine-set drama marks the feature debut of actress Tara Abboud who stars as a bubbly 17-year-old who has grown-up believing she was conceived with the smuggled sperm of her imprisoned father.
Her sense of...
Paris-based Pyramide International has acquired international rights to Mohamed Diab’s coming of age drama Amira, excluding Arab-language territories and Israel. CAA Media Finance is handling Us rights.
The film wrapped shooting in Jordan this week.
Sister company Pyramide Films will handle the French release, having previously handled Diab’s Clash and 678.
The Palestine-set drama marks the feature debut of actress Tara Abboud who stars as a bubbly 17-year-old who has grown-up believing she was conceived with the smuggled sperm of her imprisoned father.
Her sense of...
- 12/19/2019
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s Nazareth-set dark comedy Wajib scooped the top prize at Diff’s co-financing event the Dubai Film Connection on Sunday.
The project, following a divorced father as he spends the day with his estranged son delivering wedding invitations for his daughter, won Diff’s $25,000 prize.
Jacir’s long-time producer Ossama Bawardi at their joint company Philistine Films is producing.
The Dfc award came hot on the heels of another two awards for the project. Earlier in the week, the picture also received the Asian Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) film grant as well as a development award from the Tribeca Film Institute.
Jacir previously participated at the Dfc with When I Saw You, which was Palestine’s foreign-language Oscar entry and won best Asian film in Berlin and best Arab film in Abu Dhabi
The Diff prize jury consisted of Loic Magneron, founding chief of Paris-based sales company Wide Management, the Toronto...
The project, following a divorced father as he spends the day with his estranged son delivering wedding invitations for his daughter, won Diff’s $25,000 prize.
Jacir’s long-time producer Ossama Bawardi at their joint company Philistine Films is producing.
The Dfc award came hot on the heels of another two awards for the project. Earlier in the week, the picture also received the Asian Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) film grant as well as a development award from the Tribeca Film Institute.
Jacir previously participated at the Dfc with When I Saw You, which was Palestine’s foreign-language Oscar entry and won best Asian film in Berlin and best Arab film in Abu Dhabi
The Diff prize jury consisted of Loic Magneron, founding chief of Paris-based sales company Wide Management, the Toronto...
- 12/14/2015
- ScreenDaily
Jordanian producer Rula Nasser has boarded Egyptian filmmaker Kasem Kharsa’s feature debut Shelter.
The project, which has been developed through the Sundance Institute, Binger FilmLab and Torino screenwriting workshops, revolves around an amnesiac stranded in the ghettoes of Beirut. In the process of trying to piece his life back together, he discovers his connection to a genocide that took place decades earlier.
“It’s strong story from an interesting talent who is living between the Us and the Middle East,” explained Nasser, who plans to structure the project as a co-production and shoot in Jordan in 2016. Kharsa’s credits include well-received short films such as Paper Dress. Shelter received a development grant from Doha Film Institute in 2012.
Nasser, who produces under Amman-based banner The Imaginarium Films, has two films in Diff’s Muhr feature competition – Rifqi Assaf’s The Curve, a co-production with Egypt’s Film Clinic and France’s Eaux Vives Productions; and Omar Shargawi’s [link...
The project, which has been developed through the Sundance Institute, Binger FilmLab and Torino screenwriting workshops, revolves around an amnesiac stranded in the ghettoes of Beirut. In the process of trying to piece his life back together, he discovers his connection to a genocide that took place decades earlier.
“It’s strong story from an interesting talent who is living between the Us and the Middle East,” explained Nasser, who plans to structure the project as a co-production and shoot in Jordan in 2016. Kharsa’s credits include well-received short films such as Paper Dress. Shelter received a development grant from Doha Film Institute in 2012.
Nasser, who produces under Amman-based banner The Imaginarium Films, has two films in Diff’s Muhr feature competition – Rifqi Assaf’s The Curve, a co-production with Egypt’s Film Clinic and France’s Eaux Vives Productions; and Omar Shargawi’s [link...
- 12/13/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Jordanian producer Rula Nasser has boarded Dogme-style drama Medina, directed by Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Omar Shargawi, as producer alongside Nordisk Film Production.
Nasser’s production company The Imaginarium Films was previously line producer on the project, which filmed in Jordan, and has now been set up as a Danish-Jordanian co-production. TrustNordisk is handling international sales on the film.
Shargawi also stars as a man who returns to an unspecified Arab city with his Danish pregnant wife and is first imprisoned and then set free into a world that tests his faith and morality.
Shargawi previously directed Go With Peace Jamil (2008), which won a Tiger award at Rotterdam, and award-winning documentaries My Father From Haifa (2010) and ½ Revolution (2011).
The project is one of five selected for Dubai Film Market’s ‘Dfm Goes to Cannes’ works-in-progress screenings in the Cannes Marche. The line-up includes another project produced by Nasser, Rifqi Assaf’s road movie The Curve, which she co-produced...
Nasser’s production company The Imaginarium Films was previously line producer on the project, which filmed in Jordan, and has now been set up as a Danish-Jordanian co-production. TrustNordisk is handling international sales on the film.
Shargawi also stars as a man who returns to an unspecified Arab city with his Danish pregnant wife and is first imprisoned and then set free into a world that tests his faith and morality.
Shargawi previously directed Go With Peace Jamil (2008), which won a Tiger award at Rotterdam, and award-winning documentaries My Father From Haifa (2010) and ½ Revolution (2011).
The project is one of five selected for Dubai Film Market’s ‘Dfm Goes to Cannes’ works-in-progress screenings in the Cannes Marche. The line-up includes another project produced by Nasser, Rifqi Assaf’s road movie The Curve, which she co-produced...
- 5/19/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Films from Dubai, Guadalajara and Buenos Aires among line-up.
The Cannes Film Festival’s Marché (May 13-25) is to host films from the Dubai Film Market and Mexico’s Guadalajara festival among its works-in-progress line-up.
Run in collaboration with regional film festivals and markets from around the world, the post-production projects are screened to sales agents, distributors and festival delegates in Cannes, with filmmakers giving a 10-15 minute introduction before excerpts from their films.
Partners for the three showcases this year are the Dubai International Film Festival and market, the Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema (Bafici) and the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Titles to be screened under the Dubai Film Market Goes to Cannes banner hail from Palestine to Tunisia:
The Curve (Jordan)
Dir: Rifqi Assaf
Pro: Rula Nasser
Medina (Palestine/Denmark)
Dir: Omar Sharqawi
Pro: Rula Nasser
Borders Of Heaven (fka A Full Moon Night) (Tunisia)
Dir: Fares Naanaa
Pro: Habib Attia
The Other Side Of November (Lebanon...
The Cannes Film Festival’s Marché (May 13-25) is to host films from the Dubai Film Market and Mexico’s Guadalajara festival among its works-in-progress line-up.
Run in collaboration with regional film festivals and markets from around the world, the post-production projects are screened to sales agents, distributors and festival delegates in Cannes, with filmmakers giving a 10-15 minute introduction before excerpts from their films.
Partners for the three showcases this year are the Dubai International Film Festival and market, the Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema (Bafici) and the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Titles to be screened under the Dubai Film Market Goes to Cannes banner hail from Palestine to Tunisia:
The Curve (Jordan)
Dir: Rifqi Assaf
Pro: Rula Nasser
Medina (Palestine/Denmark)
Dir: Omar Sharqawi
Pro: Rula Nasser
Borders Of Heaven (fka A Full Moon Night) (Tunisia)
Dir: Fares Naanaa
Pro: Habib Attia
The Other Side Of November (Lebanon...
- 4/21/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Jordanian director Rifqi Assaf is in post-production on his debut feature The Curve, co-produced by Jordan’s The Imaginarium Films and Egypt’s Film Clinic.
The road movie stars Palestinian actor Ashraf Baehoum, Syrian actor Falina Laila and Lebanese actor Mazen Moadam. The story revolves around a man suffering from social phobia and a woman in distress who set out on a journey to the Syrian border on a minibus.
“We want to finish the film by March 2014 if we can find the finishing funds,” said producer Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films.
Nasser will also be the line producer in Jordan for Ali F Mostafa’s road movie A To B which starts shooting in February next year. She also produced Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me By The Sea, which is screening in the Muhr Arab Competition at this year’s Diff.
Her upcoming projects include Jordanian director Yahya Alabdallah’s Me, Myself And Murdoch...
The road movie stars Palestinian actor Ashraf Baehoum, Syrian actor Falina Laila and Lebanese actor Mazen Moadam. The story revolves around a man suffering from social phobia and a woman in distress who set out on a journey to the Syrian border on a minibus.
“We want to finish the film by March 2014 if we can find the finishing funds,” said producer Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films.
Nasser will also be the line producer in Jordan for Ali F Mostafa’s road movie A To B which starts shooting in February next year. She also produced Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me By The Sea, which is screening in the Muhr Arab Competition at this year’s Diff.
Her upcoming projects include Jordanian director Yahya Alabdallah’s Me, Myself And Murdoch...
- 12/12/2013
- ScreenDaily
Six out of 40 submitted projects have made the final cut for the CineLink Work in Progress section, taking place as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival later this month.
The Work in Progress sessions present upcoming films currently in post-production to decision-makers from the European film industry.
This year’s projects come from Georgia, Greece, Israel, Kosovo, Romania and Turkey.
Brides (Patardzlebi) (Georgia, France)
Directed by Tinatin Kajrishvili
Wednesday 4:45 Am (Tetarti 04:45) (Greece, Germany, Israel)
Directed by Alexis Alexiou
Manpower (Israel, France)
Directed by Noam Kaplan
Three windows and a hanging (Tri dritare dhe nje varje) (Kosovo, Germany)
Directed by Isa Qosja
World is Mine (Lumea e mea) (Romania)
Directed by Nicolae Constantin Tănase
The Lamb (Kuzu) (Turkey, Germany)
Directed by Kutluğ Ataman
A seventh additional project will be announced during the festival – a documentary selected from the Docu Rough Cut Boutique, the workshop organized by the festival’s Documentary Competition Programme in collaboration with the...
The Work in Progress sessions present upcoming films currently in post-production to decision-makers from the European film industry.
This year’s projects come from Georgia, Greece, Israel, Kosovo, Romania and Turkey.
Brides (Patardzlebi) (Georgia, France)
Directed by Tinatin Kajrishvili
Wednesday 4:45 Am (Tetarti 04:45) (Greece, Germany, Israel)
Directed by Alexis Alexiou
Manpower (Israel, France)
Directed by Noam Kaplan
Three windows and a hanging (Tri dritare dhe nje varje) (Kosovo, Germany)
Directed by Isa Qosja
World is Mine (Lumea e mea) (Romania)
Directed by Nicolae Constantin Tănase
The Lamb (Kuzu) (Turkey, Germany)
Directed by Kutluğ Ataman
A seventh additional project will be announced during the festival – a documentary selected from the Docu Rough Cut Boutique, the workshop organized by the festival’s Documentary Competition Programme in collaboration with the...
- 8/8/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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