Exclusive: Dubai-based management and production company 75East has signed Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel, whose narrative feature debut To A Land Unknown is playing in Directors’ Fortnight this year.
75East, was launched last December by former Mister Smith sales executive Antone Saliba under the banner Untamed Talent with a focus on the Swana region (South West Asia and North Africa), and has recently rebranded.
The only Palestinian feature in Cannes this year, To A Land Unknown tells the story of the desperate attempts of two Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens to find a way to reach Germany.
Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. When Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late.
75East, was launched last December by former Mister Smith sales executive Antone Saliba under the banner Untamed Talent with a focus on the Swana region (South West Asia and North Africa), and has recently rebranded.
The only Palestinian feature in Cannes this year, To A Land Unknown tells the story of the desperate attempts of two Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens to find a way to reach Germany.
Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. When Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late.
- 5/21/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Untamed Talent, the recently launched Arab world management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba is rebranding as 75East and bringing on board Shams Mohajerani, a former acquisitions executive at Cairo-based Mad Solutions, as manager and producer.
The change in name to 75East of the company, which launched last December with backing from Front Row Productions – a joint venture between leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment – is a geographical reference to the wider Southwest Asian and North African (Swana) region from Morocco to Pakistan, “reflecting the company’s commitment to representing talent beyond Arabic-speaking territories,” according to a statement.
The addition of Mohajerani, an Iranian-American raised in Boston, will expand the company’s reach outside the Arab world and commit to its focus on neighboring territories “including the Persian-speaking world, as well as filmmakers with ties to the region...
The change in name to 75East of the company, which launched last December with backing from Front Row Productions – a joint venture between leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment – is a geographical reference to the wider Southwest Asian and North African (Swana) region from Morocco to Pakistan, “reflecting the company’s commitment to representing talent beyond Arabic-speaking territories,” according to a statement.
The addition of Mohajerani, an Iranian-American raised in Boston, will expand the company’s reach outside the Arab world and commit to its focus on neighboring territories “including the Persian-speaking world, as well as filmmakers with ties to the region...
- 5/16/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe and Souheila Yacoub are set to star in Egyptian-American director Lotfy Nathan’s The Carpenter’s Son exploring the rarely told story of the childhood of Jesus with a horror take.
Paris-based Cinenovo and L.A.-based Spacemaker are producing. Goodfellas is overseeing international sales apart from in North America, which it will co-rep with Anonymous Content and WME.
Nathan has taken inspiration from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas for the screenplay. Dating back to the 2nd Century Ad, the text recounts the childhood of Jesus.
Per the official synopsis, “The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. The son, known only as ‘the Boy’, is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power,...
Paris-based Cinenovo and L.A.-based Spacemaker are producing. Goodfellas is overseeing international sales apart from in North America, which it will co-rep with Anonymous Content and WME.
Nathan has taken inspiration from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas for the screenplay. Dating back to the 2nd Century Ad, the text recounts the childhood of Jesus.
Per the official synopsis, “The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. The son, known only as ‘the Boy’, is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power,...
- 5/6/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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
Just over six years have passed since Saudi Arabia announced the lifting of its 35-year cinema ban as part of a strategy to open up the country and move its economy away from a reliance on oil.
In a sign that things were already bubbling prior to the Ministry of Culture’s official announcement in December 2017, the country’s Saudi Film Festival (Sff), taking place in the Eastern Province city of Dhahran, will mark its 10th anniversary from May 2 to 9.
The event grew out of under-the-radar screenings in the early 2000s at a local culture association of arthouse DVDs, subtitled into Arabic by an underground outfit.
“We were fighting to screen films in public,” recounts Sff’s founding director Ahmed Almulla, the artist and poet who spearheaded the screenings. “Things changed in the blink of eye. It’s a revolution, what’s happened in Saudi Arabia with art and culture.
In a sign that things were already bubbling prior to the Ministry of Culture’s official announcement in December 2017, the country’s Saudi Film Festival (Sff), taking place in the Eastern Province city of Dhahran, will mark its 10th anniversary from May 2 to 9.
The event grew out of under-the-radar screenings in the early 2000s at a local culture association of arthouse DVDs, subtitled into Arabic by an underground outfit.
“We were fighting to screen films in public,” recounts Sff’s founding director Ahmed Almulla, the artist and poet who spearheaded the screenings. “Things changed in the blink of eye. It’s a revolution, what’s happened in Saudi Arabia with art and culture.
- 4/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Rising Saudi Star Mohammed Elshehri has been announced as master of ceremonies at the 10th edition Saudi Film Festival, running from May 2 to 9 in the Eastern Province city of Dhahran.
Elshehri is the star of hit Mbc Ramadan comedy TV series Road Trip (Sekket Safar), which has just completed its third season run.
He also hosted the first season of Mbc reality game show One Million Dollar Land and also starred in Saudi musical movie Valley Road after getting his acting breakthrough in Mbc platform Shahid’s hit crime and drama The Fates Hotel.
“Like many great festivals we exist to promote our local talent. Mo is a rising star in our country and the region,” said Saudi Film Festival head Ahmed Almulla.
“We’re so proud of what he has accomplished and believe he will be one of the greatest actors of our time. We are very honored...
Elshehri is the star of hit Mbc Ramadan comedy TV series Road Trip (Sekket Safar), which has just completed its third season run.
He also hosted the first season of Mbc reality game show One Million Dollar Land and also starred in Saudi musical movie Valley Road after getting his acting breakthrough in Mbc platform Shahid’s hit crime and drama The Fates Hotel.
“Like many great festivals we exist to promote our local talent. Mo is a rising star in our country and the region,” said Saudi Film Festival head Ahmed Almulla.
“We’re so proud of what he has accomplished and believe he will be one of the greatest actors of our time. We are very honored...
- 4/18/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Egyptian-Austrian director Abu Bakr Shawky, who in 2018 made a splash when his first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, is back on the festival circuit with Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan.”
Shawky’s big-budget epic follow-up, which launched from Toronto’s Discovery section, is now premiering regionally at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where it screened Monday to roaring applause as an out-of-competition gala.
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, it’s embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The beautifully shot film — produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egypt’s Mohamed Hefzy via his Film Clinic shingle — was made mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi...
Shawky’s big-budget epic follow-up, which launched from Toronto’s Discovery section, is now premiering regionally at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where it screened Monday to roaring applause as an out-of-competition gala.
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, it’s embarked upon by a young orphan boy and his beloved camel. The beautifully shot film — produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egypt’s Mohamed Hefzy via his Film Clinic shingle — was made mostly in the sprawling area situated along Saudi...
- 12/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety 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
The moves comes as the leading Mena distributor ramps up activity.
Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners as the company increases activity in the region.
The trio joined in early 2019 as part of a revamp of the company, which is one of the leading distributors of independent and genre films in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). Torloting is Front Row’s COO, with Chaiban heading post-theatrical sales and Touma leading acquisitions and theatrical distribution.
The company, founded by Gianluca Chakra in 2003, handles the release of more than 200 films per year,...
Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has promoted Nicolas Torloting, Carine Chaiban and Elie Touma to partners as the company increases activity in the region.
The trio joined in early 2019 as part of a revamp of the company, which is one of the leading distributors of independent and genre films in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). Torloting is Front Row’s COO, with Chaiban heading post-theatrical sales and Touma leading acquisitions and theatrical distribution.
The company, founded by Gianluca Chakra in 2003, handles the release of more than 200 films per year,...
- 12/4/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The drama marks the feature directorial debut of Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima AlBanawi.
Netflix has boarded upcoming Saudi drama Basma, the feature directorial debut of Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima AlBanawi, and will exclusively premiere the film on the streaming platform in 2024.
AlBanawi also wrote the script and stars as the title character, a young Saudi woman who returns back to her hometown after studying in the US, only to discover that her family have been hiding her father’s mental illness and broken relationships. A first look at the film can be seen above.
Filmed in Jeddah, it...
Netflix has boarded upcoming Saudi drama Basma, the feature directorial debut of Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima AlBanawi, and will exclusively premiere the film on the streaming platform in 2024.
AlBanawi also wrote the script and stars as the title character, a young Saudi woman who returns back to her hometown after studying in the US, only to discover that her family have been hiding her father’s mental illness and broken relationships. A first look at the film can be seen above.
Filmed in Jeddah, it...
- 12/1/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Untamed Talent, a management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba, is launching with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions, a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment.
Front Row Productions will provide capital and strategic value to support Untamed Talent’s goals to innovate new business models covering the South West Asia and North Africa region, the fastest-growing entertainment market in the world. The focus will be not only on representing filmmakers from established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi, it will also identify, develop and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran.
Untamed will work on a non-exclusive basis with all production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.S. and international studios and streamers to maximize opportunities for its clients.
Front Row Productions will provide capital and strategic value to support Untamed Talent’s goals to innovate new business models covering the South West Asia and North Africa region, the fastest-growing entertainment market in the world. The focus will be not only on representing filmmakers from established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi, it will also identify, develop and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran.
Untamed will work on a non-exclusive basis with all production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.S. and international studios and streamers to maximize opportunities for its clients.
- 12/1/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
‘Hajjan’ director Abu Bakr Shawky and ‘Theeb’ producer’ Bassel Ghandour on initial clint roster.
Untamed Talent, a new management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba, has launched with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions and unveiled its first roster of clients.
The firm will represent filmmakers from the established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi as well as promoting talent from more underrepresented countries in South West Asia and North Africa such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran.
Front Row Productions, a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution...
Untamed Talent, a new management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba, has launched with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions and unveiled its first roster of clients.
The firm will represent filmmakers from the established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi as well as promoting talent from more underrepresented countries in South West Asia and North Africa such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran.
Front Row Productions, a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution...
- 12/1/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Former Mister Smith Entertainment exec Antone Saliba is spearheading a newly launched management and production company focused on the Middle East and the South West Asia and North Africa (Swana) region.
Untamed Entertainment, unveiled from the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, comes with backing from Dubai-based Front Row Productions, the joint venture between distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment.
Alongside representing filmmakers from the established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Untamed aims to identify, develop, and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region, such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. It plans to work on a non-exclusive basis with all production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.S. and international studios and streamers.
The company’s opening roster of clients includes an impressive mix of critically acclaimed writers and directors, including Palme d...
Untamed Entertainment, unveiled from the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, comes with backing from Dubai-based Front Row Productions, the joint venture between distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment.
Alongside representing filmmakers from the established Middle East industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Untamed aims to identify, develop, and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region, such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran. It plans to work on a non-exclusive basis with all production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.S. and international studios and streamers.
The company’s opening roster of clients includes an impressive mix of critically acclaimed writers and directors, including Palme d...
- 12/1/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Former Mister Smith sales executive Antone Saliba has launched management and production company Untamed Talent, with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions.
The latter company, which is a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment, will provide capital and strategic value for the new banner.
Saliba, who was a sales and acquisitions executive under David Garrett at Mister Smith, wants to create new content business models for the fast-growing entertainment sectors of the Swana region, covering Southwest Asia and North Africa.
As well as representing filmmakers from the established Mena industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi, the new company will also identify, develop, and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran.
The company will work on a non-exclusive basis with production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.
The latter company, which is a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment, will provide capital and strategic value for the new banner.
Saliba, who was a sales and acquisitions executive under David Garrett at Mister Smith, wants to create new content business models for the fast-growing entertainment sectors of the Swana region, covering Southwest Asia and North Africa.
As well as representing filmmakers from the established Mena industry hubs of Egypt and Saudi, the new company will also identify, develop, and promote talent from traditionally underrepresented countries within the region such as Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran.
The company will work on a non-exclusive basis with production and distribution parties in the region, as well as U.
- 12/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“Your Story, Your Festival,” is the theme for this year‘s Red Sea International Film Festival, with organizers promising “a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life.”
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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
Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival will take place from November 30-December 9 in the port city of Jeddah under the theme ’Your Stories, Your Festival.’
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in the Mena region and includes 36 feature length and short films from Saudi Arabia, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.
The Competition strand includes 17 films from Asia,...
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival will take place from November 30-December 9 in the port city of Jeddah under the theme ’Your Stories, Your Festival.’
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in the Mena region and includes 36 feature length and short films from Saudi Arabia, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.
The Competition strand includes 17 films from Asia,...
- 11/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival, which takes place from November 30-December 9, will also give special screenings to Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, which was supported by Red Sea’s financing arm and opened Cannes, and to Dhafer L’abidine’s Saudi-uae co-production To My Son, which world premieres at the festival.
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in...
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival, which takes place from November 30-December 9, will also give special screenings to Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, which was supported by Red Sea’s financing arm and opened Cannes, and to Dhafer L’abidine’s Saudi-uae co-production To My Son, which world premieres at the festival.
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in...
- 11/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Neo Sora’s concert documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” a standout at the Venice Film Festival, has sold for theatrical distribution in North America to Janus Films ahead of its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival.
The theatrical release will be followed by a Blu-ray Disc release on the “Janus Contemporaries” label.
This is the latest deal inked by London and Paris-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation, following a slew of sales to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (NjutaFilms), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), South Korea (Media Castle), China (Jl Vision Films), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Taiwan (Cai Chang) and Singapore (Anticipate Pictures). Bitters End will release the film in Japan in 2024.
On March 28, 2023, legendary composer Sakamoto Ryuichi died after his struggle against cancer. In the years leading up to his death, Sakamoto could no longer perform live. Single concerts,...
The theatrical release will be followed by a Blu-ray Disc release on the “Janus Contemporaries” label.
This is the latest deal inked by London and Paris-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation, following a slew of sales to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (NjutaFilms), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), South Korea (Media Castle), China (Jl Vision Films), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Taiwan (Cai Chang) and Singapore (Anticipate Pictures). Bitters End will release the film in Japan in 2024.
On March 28, 2023, legendary composer Sakamoto Ryuichi died after his struggle against cancer. In the years leading up to his death, Sakamoto could no longer perform live. Single concerts,...
- 9/25/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
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
As you read this, new titles from filmmakers of Tunisian, Moroccan and Franco-Palestinian-Algerian heritage are making their mark at the Venice Film Festival, while Toronto Film Festival will premiere a trio of first features from Saudi Arabia, along with discoveries from the UAE and Palestine, plus a handful of Arab titles screened at Cannes and Venice. Those in the know say that the annual number of Arab films produced has increased along with the emergence of new filmmakers, and that fall festivals such as El Gouna, Marrakech, Cairo and Red Sea will be chockablock with fresh regional titles.
Last year, Venice boasted a remarkably large crop of Arab-language features, but a strong Cannes 2023 selection of Arabic cinema that claimed kudos in various sections of the French fest left the Biennale with a picked over selection. Nevertheless, Venice can claim credit for nurturing this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize-winner “Inshallah a Boy...
Last year, Venice boasted a remarkably large crop of Arab-language features, but a strong Cannes 2023 selection of Arabic cinema that claimed kudos in various sections of the French fest left the Biennale with a picked over selection. Nevertheless, Venice can claim credit for nurturing this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize-winner “Inshallah a Boy...
- 9/4/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi, 2023).The lineup is being unveiled for the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, starting with 60 selections from the Gala and Special Presentations programs. The festival takes place from September 7–17, 2023.Gala PRESENTATIONSConcrete Utopia (Um Tae-Hwa)Dumb Money (Craig Gillespie)Fair Play (Chloe Domont)Flora and Son (John Carney)Hate to Love: Nickelback (Leigh Brooks)Lee (Ellen Kuras)Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi)Nyad (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin)Punjab ’95 (Honey Trehan)Solo (Sophie Dupuis)The End We Start From (Mahalia Belo)The Movie Emperor (Ning Hao)The New Boy (Warwick Thornton) The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green)The Holdovers.Special Presentationsa Difficult Year (Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache)A Normal Family (Hur Jin-ho)American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)Close to You (Dominic Savage)Days of Happiness (Chloé Robichaud)The Rescue (Daniela Goggi)Ezra (Tony Goldwyn)Fingernails (Christos Nikou)Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania...
- 8/14/2023
- MUBI
Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Larry Charles’ Dicks: The Musical open the sections.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the titles in its Discovery and Midnight Madness programmes, with the line-ups including Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft, Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.
The Discovery line-up, designed to open a window on contemporary international cinema with first and second features from new filmmakers, comprises 26 titles from 25 countries, most of them world or international premieres.
As well as Arquette’s directing debut Gonzo Girl, with the actor also starring alongside Willem Dafoe,...
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the titles in its Discovery and Midnight Madness programmes, with the line-ups including Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft, Patricia Arquette’s Gonzo Girl and Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.
The Discovery line-up, designed to open a window on contemporary international cinema with first and second features from new filmmakers, comprises 26 titles from 25 countries, most of them world or international premieres.
As well as Arquette’s directing debut Gonzo Girl, with the actor also starring alongside Willem Dafoe,...
- 8/3/2023
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
New films from Patricia Arquette, Larry Charles, Harmony Korine and Finn Wolfhard will screen in the Midnight Madness and Discovery sections of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.
Korine’s “Aggro DR1FT” and Charles’ “Dicks: The Musical” will screen in the Midnight Madness section, along with eight other films that also include Jason Yu’s “Sleep” and Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s “Hell of a Summer.”
“Dicks: The Musical,” which TIFF Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky called “bonkers and bawdy” in the press release announcing the lineups, will open the Midnight Madness section, while Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire” will be the closing-night attraction.
The Discovery section will showcase 26 films from up-and-coming directors around the world. It will open with Arquette’s “Gonzo Girl,” which stars Willem Dafoe and Camilla Morrone (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) and is one of many TIFF titles from actors who have turned to directing.
Korine’s “Aggro DR1FT” and Charles’ “Dicks: The Musical” will screen in the Midnight Madness section, along with eight other films that also include Jason Yu’s “Sleep” and Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s “Hell of a Summer.”
“Dicks: The Musical,” which TIFF Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky called “bonkers and bawdy” in the press release announcing the lineups, will open the Midnight Madness section, while Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire” will be the closing-night attraction.
The Discovery section will showcase 26 films from up-and-coming directors around the world. It will open with Arquette’s “Gonzo Girl,” which stars Willem Dafoe and Camilla Morrone (“Daisy Jones & the Six”) and is one of many TIFF titles from actors who have turned to directing.
- 8/3/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Toronto International Film Festival has today announced the lineup for two of its more unpredictable and interesting sections: Discovery and Midnight Madness. Billed as “the infamous,” this year’s Midnight Madness lineup features 10 titles, seven of which are world premieres. The Discovery lineup, which primarily includes world and international premieres, includes 26 titles.
Per TIFF, both “Midnight Madness and Discovery provide a cornucopia of original and unexpected work. Midnight Madness is a fan favorite, iconoclastic program highlighting the weird and the wicked, while the Discovery program offers a window to contemporary international cinema and introduces the public to first and second feature films from gifted new filmmakers.” The festival’s announcement also notes that 13 female filmmakers, representing 50 percent of the total program, are featured in this year’s Discovery lineup.
Those films include new offerings from Harmony Korine and Larry Charles, plus — as Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, Midnight Madness,...
Per TIFF, both “Midnight Madness and Discovery provide a cornucopia of original and unexpected work. Midnight Madness is a fan favorite, iconoclastic program highlighting the weird and the wicked, while the Discovery program offers a window to contemporary international cinema and introduces the public to first and second feature films from gifted new filmmakers.” The festival’s announcement also notes that 13 female filmmakers, representing 50 percent of the total program, are featured in this year’s Discovery lineup.
Those films include new offerings from Harmony Korine and Larry Charles, plus — as Peter Kuplowsky, TIFF International Programmer, Midnight Madness,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Leading Egyptian independent production company Film Clinic is gearing up for the shoot of The Inevitable Journey Of Finding The Wedding Dress by Jaylan Auf.
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
- 5/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Initiative aims to commission and fund up to five films annually.
Saudi outfit Ithra Film Production has launched a new funding initiative to encourage international filmmakers to collaborate with the region and advance its fast-growing film industry.
The King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, aims to commission and fund up to five films annually. The level of funding was not disclosed and projects will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
An open call for submissions will run until August 4 and projects will be selected by a panel of Arab filmmakers, the names of which have yet to be revealed.
Saudi outfit Ithra Film Production has launched a new funding initiative to encourage international filmmakers to collaborate with the region and advance its fast-growing film industry.
The King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, aims to commission and fund up to five films annually. The level of funding was not disclosed and projects will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
An open call for submissions will run until August 4 and projects will be selected by a panel of Arab filmmakers, the names of which have yet to be revealed.
- 5/22/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
One of the rarest sightings at the Cannes Film Festival is the first-time filmmaker whose debut feature has been admitted to the exclusive Main Competition lineup. That section is normally the domain of veteran directors who’ve been to Cannes before, but a Senegalese-French director named Ramata-Toulaye Sy has joined the 2023 ranks with “Banel & Adama,” her first feature after one short and a couple of writing credits.
Hers is the first debut film to land in the Main Competition since Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” and Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables” did so four years ago; the former film made the Oscar shortlist in the Best International Feature Film category and the latter was nominated for that award. In the past decade, the only other first films to crash the competition were Abu Bakr Shawky’s “Yomeddine” in 2018 and Laszlo Nemes’ Oscar-winning “Son of Saul” in 2015.
So Sy is in rarefied company,...
Hers is the first debut film to land in the Main Competition since Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” and Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables” did so four years ago; the former film made the Oscar shortlist in the Best International Feature Film category and the latter was nominated for that award. In the past decade, the only other first films to crash the competition were Abu Bakr Shawky’s “Yomeddine” in 2018 and Laszlo Nemes’ Oscar-winning “Son of Saul” in 2015.
So Sy is in rarefied company,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky, whose first feature “Yomeddine” had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, has completed his followup, the Saudi-set travel movie “Hajjan” which is expected to soon surface on the festival circuit.
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash in 2018, the hotly anticipated “Hajjan” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his 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 so he becomes a camel jockey, only to find himself entangled in a battle for his own freedom.
“At its heart, ‘Hajjan” is an adventure [film] that captures the deep connection...
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash in 2018, the hotly anticipated “Hajjan” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his 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 so he becomes a camel jockey, only to find himself entangled in a battle for his own freedom.
“At its heart, ‘Hajjan” is an adventure [film] that captures the deep connection...
- 2/20/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fund has unveiled its latest round of feature film grantees from the Arab world and Africa.
The announcement comes just days after the fund revealed it had boarded French director Maïwenn’s upcoming costume drama Jeanne du Barry starring Johnny Depp, in its first European investment as executive producer.
In its latest funding round for Arab and African filmmakers, it is getting behind 36 productions by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers, 25 in or on the verge of production, 11 in post-production.
The 25 production grant winners include upcoming films by established directors such as Abderrahmane Sissako’s The Perfumed Hill, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Miss Camel, Annemarie Jacir, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Mime, Cherien Dabis, and Karim Moussaoui’s The Vanishing.
The fund has also gotten behind buzzy, emerging talents such as Saudi Arabian filmmaker Sara Mesfer, who is gearing up for her first solo feature Habibi And I In Eden.
The announcement comes just days after the fund revealed it had boarded French director Maïwenn’s upcoming costume drama Jeanne du Barry starring Johnny Depp, in its first European investment as executive producer.
In its latest funding round for Arab and African filmmakers, it is getting behind 36 productions by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers, 25 in or on the verge of production, 11 in post-production.
The 25 production grant winners include upcoming films by established directors such as Abderrahmane Sissako’s The Perfumed Hill, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Miss Camel, Annemarie Jacir, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Mime, Cherien Dabis, and Karim Moussaoui’s The Vanishing.
The fund has also gotten behind buzzy, emerging talents such as Saudi Arabian filmmaker Sara Mesfer, who is gearing up for her first solo feature Habibi And I In Eden.
- 1/18/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Further projects come from Mehdi M. Barsaoui, Ameer Fakher Eldin, Haifaa Al-Mansour and Annemarie Jacir.
The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has unveiled the 36 recipients of the Red Sea Fund’s 2022 production and post-production funding cycles.
All titles are from Arab and African filmmakers, who will receive grants to help them complete films that shine a light on narratives and new talents emerging from the region.
Two films selected have previously received support at the development stage by the Red Sea Fund. Captain Mbaye from Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi follows a Un observer sent to Rwanda as genocide breaks out.
The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has unveiled the 36 recipients of the Red Sea Fund’s 2022 production and post-production funding cycles.
All titles are from Arab and African filmmakers, who will receive grants to help them complete films that shine a light on narratives and new talents emerging from the region.
Two films selected have previously received support at the development stage by the Red Sea Fund. Captain Mbaye from Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi follows a Un observer sent to Rwanda as genocide breaks out.
- 1/18/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The closing film of the 2nd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival was Khalid Fahad’s debut feature “Valley Road,” which was majority funded by the Ithra Cultural Center – the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, which has become one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest film producers.
The comedy adventure is about a young mute boy, Ali, who lives in a remote Saudi village, with his stern father and doting elder sister Siham, who is studying in a nearby city.
His father takes him on a trip through their picturesque mountain valley, seeking to get him “cured” by the local doctor. But Alia gets lost on the way and embarks on a series of misadventures, amplified by his vivid imagination.
The family is distraught to locate their missing son, and his sister Siham urgently looks for clues as to his whereabouts.
As the characters evolve during the story, it...
The comedy adventure is about a young mute boy, Ali, who lives in a remote Saudi village, with his stern father and doting elder sister Siham, who is studying in a nearby city.
His father takes him on a trip through their picturesque mountain valley, seeking to get him “cured” by the local doctor. But Alia gets lost on the way and embarks on a series of misadventures, amplified by his vivid imagination.
The family is distraught to locate their missing son, and his sister Siham urgently looks for clues as to his whereabouts.
As the characters evolve during the story, it...
- 12/9/2022
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky, whose first film “Yomeddine” – about a man raised in a leper colony, who embarks with a young sidekick and a donkey on a journey across Egypt – had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes, is back behind the camera on the ambitious Saudi-set travel movie “Sea of Sands.”
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash on the fest circuit in 2018, “Sea of Sands” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his camel.
“Camels are very much part of the heritage of Saudi culture,” said Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, who noted that in the “Sea of Sands” storyline the boy in question “is kind of inadvertently thrown into the world of camel racing. “It was never really his intention to become a championship jockey,” Hefzy went on to note. “But somehow, he has to do that to survive.
Somewhat similarly to “Yomeddine,” which made a splash on the fest circuit in 2018, “Sea of Sands” involves a journey across the desert, this time embarked upon by a boy and his camel.
“Camels are very much part of the heritage of Saudi culture,” said Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, who noted that in the “Sea of Sands” storyline the boy in question “is kind of inadvertently thrown into the world of camel racing. “It was never really his intention to become a championship jockey,” Hefzy went on to note. “But somehow, he has to do that to survive.
- 12/6/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Egypt, which is home to the Middle East and North Africa’s biggest film industry, will not participate in the Best International Film Oscar race this year.
According to Egyptian media reports, confirmed by Deadline, the committee of critics and cinema professionals responsible for selecting the country’s submission decided not to send a film for the lack of a credible candidate.
The four films on the final shortlist comprised Marwan Hamed’s Kira & El Gin, Hadi El-Baghoury’s Full Moon, Sherif Arafa’s The Crime and Magdy Ahmed Ali’s 2 Talaat Harb.
Two films generating potential submission buzz — Nadine Khan’s Abu Saddam and Omar El Zohairy’s Cannes 2021 Critics’ Week winner Feathers — could not be taken into consideration because they did not meet the 2022 theatrical release requirements.
The decision for Egypt to opt out of the race was made at the end of September, but the news has...
According to Egyptian media reports, confirmed by Deadline, the committee of critics and cinema professionals responsible for selecting the country’s submission decided not to send a film for the lack of a credible candidate.
The four films on the final shortlist comprised Marwan Hamed’s Kira & El Gin, Hadi El-Baghoury’s Full Moon, Sherif Arafa’s The Crime and Magdy Ahmed Ali’s 2 Talaat Harb.
Two films generating potential submission buzz — Nadine Khan’s Abu Saddam and Omar El Zohairy’s Cannes 2021 Critics’ Week winner Feathers — could not be taken into consideration because they did not meet the 2022 theatrical release requirements.
The decision for Egypt to opt out of the race was made at the end of September, but the news has...
- 10/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
International projects already have at least 70 of funding in place.
The Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market has selected 33 international feature and documentary projects for its ninth edition this year, which runs from September 2-4.
The international projects nearing completion will have the chance to close their financing through one-to-one meetings at the Market, which is part of the Venice Production Bridge.
Each of the feature and documentary projects has at least 70 of its funding in place.
The countries in focus at this year’s event are France and Taiwan, with a number of projects from each country receiving a special invite to the Market.
The Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market has selected 33 international feature and documentary projects for its ninth edition this year, which runs from September 2-4.
The international projects nearing completion will have the chance to close their financing through one-to-one meetings at the Market, which is part of the Venice Production Bridge.
Each of the feature and documentary projects has at least 70 of its funding in place.
The countries in focus at this year’s event are France and Taiwan, with a number of projects from each country receiving a special invite to the Market.
- 7/1/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Film and immersive video projects from Taiwan and France will be put in the spotlight at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, a project support event that is part of the Venice Production Bridge and the Venice International Film Festival.
The three-day market will present a huge 63 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding, setting up one-to-one meetings and giving them the opportunity to close their international financing.
The selected projects include: 33 feature-length fiction film and documentary projects, 16 immersive projects; 11 Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects; and 3 Biennale College Cinema projects.
The market will operate as an in-person event Sept. 2-4, 2022, while the festival runs Aug. 31-Sept. 10, 2022.
Among the highlight films from the featured territories are: “Be With Me,” a fiction film project by Taiwan’s Hwarng Wern Ying; “Tales of Taipei,” a fiction film with multiple directors; and “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” by Su I-Hsuan.
The three-day market will present a huge 63 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding, setting up one-to-one meetings and giving them the opportunity to close their international financing.
The selected projects include: 33 feature-length fiction film and documentary projects, 16 immersive projects; 11 Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality projects; and 3 Biennale College Cinema projects.
The market will operate as an in-person event Sept. 2-4, 2022, while the festival runs Aug. 31-Sept. 10, 2022.
Among the highlight films from the featured territories are: “Be With Me,” a fiction film project by Taiwan’s Hwarng Wern Ying; “Tales of Taipei,” a fiction film with multiple directors; and “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” by Su I-Hsuan.
- 6/30/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
The Venice Gap-Financing Market has picked the 63 international projects that will pitch producers and financiers at this year’s event, which runs Sept. 2-4 alongside the 2022 Venice International Film Festival.
The ninth edition of the gap-financing market includes more than 30 feature projects and more than two dozen immersive and VR works from around the world, all in the final stages of development and funding. The final projects were picked from more than 240 submissions.
This year’s selections run the gambit, from Iceland-set horror film Cold from director Erlingur Thoroddsen, whose latest, Piper, starring Charlotte Hope, Julian Sands and Alexis Rodney, is currently in post-production, to the Syrian documentary 5 Seasons of Revolution, to Gints Zilbalodis’ animated fantasy film Flow, in which a cat wakes up in a flooded world and tries to overcome its fear of water.
The 2022 gap-financing market is a truly global affair,...
The Venice Gap-Financing Market has picked the 63 international projects that will pitch producers and financiers at this year’s event, which runs Sept. 2-4 alongside the 2022 Venice International Film Festival.
The ninth edition of the gap-financing market includes more than 30 feature projects and more than two dozen immersive and VR works from around the world, all in the final stages of development and funding. The final projects were picked from more than 240 submissions.
This year’s selections run the gambit, from Iceland-set horror film Cold from director Erlingur Thoroddsen, whose latest, Piper, starring Charlotte Hope, Julian Sands and Alexis Rodney, is currently in post-production, to the Syrian documentary 5 Seasons of Revolution, to Gints Zilbalodis’ animated fantasy film Flow, in which a cat wakes up in a flooded world and tries to overcome its fear of water.
The 2022 gap-financing market is a truly global affair,...
- 6/30/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
167 film critics from 68 countries voted on the awards organised by the Arab Cinema Centre.
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s social satire Feathers, which won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week last year, has swept the board at the sixth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.
The film, which was nominated in four categories, won best film, director and screenplay.
This year’s edition of the awards, spearheaded by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), focuses on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries,...
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s social satire Feathers, which won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week last year, has swept the board at the sixth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.
The film, which was nominated in four categories, won best film, director and screenplay.
This year’s edition of the awards, spearheaded by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), focuses on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries,...
- 5/22/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Saudi-Egyptian co-production revolves around the special bond between a young Bedouin orphan and a camel.
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Sea Of Sands.
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a young Bedouin orphan...
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Sea Of Sands.
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a young Bedouin orphan...
- 5/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Saudi-Egyptian co-production revolves around the special bond between a young Bedouin orphan and a camel.
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Hajjan (previously titled Sea Of Sands).
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a...
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Hajjan (previously titled Sea Of Sands).
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a...
- 5/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Frémaux makes his first trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia after last visiting the Middle East in 2016.
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux is hitting the Arab film festival circuit in December with trips to the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) and the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff).
It will be Frémaux’s first trip to either Egypt or Saudi Arabia. He was last in the Middle East in an official capacity in 2016 when he attended the Dubai International Film Festival with Lumière! The Adventure Of Cinema Begins.
Frémaux is due to...
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux is hitting the Arab film festival circuit in December with trips to the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) and the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff).
It will be Frémaux’s first trip to either Egypt or Saudi Arabia. He was last in the Middle East in an official capacity in 2016 when he attended the Dubai International Film Festival with Lumière! The Adventure Of Cinema Begins.
Frémaux is due to...
- 11/17/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
France fetes Arab cinema figures at a special ceremony in Cairo.
Egyptian producer and Cairo International Film Festival director Mohamed Hefzy has been feted with France’s prestigious Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier des Arts et Lettres) honour.
Created in 1957, the order celebrates people who have made a significant contribution to the arts and literature. It has three grades commander, officer and knight.
Other cinema figures to have received the honour in the past include Italian distributor Valerio De Paolis and Sony Pictures Classics co-founders Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.
Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Hefzy...
Egyptian producer and Cairo International Film Festival director Mohamed Hefzy has been feted with France’s prestigious Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier des Arts et Lettres) honour.
Created in 1957, the order celebrates people who have made a significant contribution to the arts and literature. It has three grades commander, officer and knight.
Other cinema figures to have received the honour in the past include Italian distributor Valerio De Paolis and Sony Pictures Classics co-founders Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.
Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Hefzy...
- 1/28/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Two powerful figures in the Arab world, Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy and Tunisian-born actor and model Hend Sabri, have been named Chevalier and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s highest honors, respectively.
The ceremony took place in Cairo on Wednesday, and the honor was given by Stéphane Romatet, the ambassador of France in Egypt. The Order of Arts and Letters recognizes “eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.”
Hefzy, who is known for being charismatic and forward-thinking, has presided over the Cairo Film Festival since 2018 and has succeeded in raising its international profile significantly.
Hefzy’s award-winning credits span more than 30 feature films in Egypt, the U.S., U.K. and the Arab world. His banner Film Clinic, which was founded in 2006 and now ranks as a leading production...
The ceremony took place in Cairo on Wednesday, and the honor was given by Stéphane Romatet, the ambassador of France in Egypt. The Order of Arts and Letters recognizes “eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.”
Hefzy, who is known for being charismatic and forward-thinking, has presided over the Cairo Film Festival since 2018 and has succeeded in raising its international profile significantly.
Hefzy’s award-winning credits span more than 30 feature films in Egypt, the U.S., U.K. and the Arab world. His banner Film Clinic, which was founded in 2006 and now ranks as a leading production...
- 1/27/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Yomeddine (Judgment Day) Strand Releasing Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: A.B. Shawky Cast: A.B. Shawky Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/4/19Rad Opens: In Theaters May 31, 2019: September 24, 2019 on DVD When I was thirteen I acted like most of the kids around me, belittling people […]
The post Yomeddine Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Yomeddine Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/11/2019
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Yomeddine movie review is here. The 2018 Egyptian drama directed by Abu Bakr Shawky was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Featuring Rady Gamal and Ahmed Abdelhafiz, Yomeddine is releasing in India on August 23, 2019 through PVR cinemas in association with In2Infotainment, Kahwa films and Vkaao. Here is the review of Yomeddine ? nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Immediate reaction when the end credits
Can a story featuring a real outcast ? a leper who still lives in a leper colony travels all roads and gain universal appeal?.Constantly hum a sweet violin on humanity and acceptance?. Gift us something that constantly reminds us on our sinful practices of discrimination amongst humans?. Abu Bakr Shawky?s Yomeddine does that and how!
The Story of Yomeddine
Beshay (Rady Gamal) a man cured of leprosy, has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian...
Immediate reaction when the end credits
Can a story featuring a real outcast ? a leper who still lives in a leper colony travels all roads and gain universal appeal?.Constantly hum a sweet violin on humanity and acceptance?. Gift us something that constantly reminds us on our sinful practices of discrimination amongst humans?. Abu Bakr Shawky?s Yomeddine does that and how!
The Story of Yomeddine
Beshay (Rady Gamal) a man cured of leprosy, has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian...
- 8/20/2019
- GlamSham
Both titles premiered at Cannes 2018.
Egyptian director A. B. Shawky’s road movie Yomeddine, about a leper who travels across Egypt in a bid to reconnect with his long-lost family, has scooped best film at the Arab cinema Critics Awards.
The film won the François Chalais Award and went onto tour a slew of festivals, winning the top prize in Tunisia’s Carthage Film Festival, following its premiere in Competition in Cannes last year.
Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki won best director for her 2018 Cannes jury prize winner Capernaum, about the plight of a young refugee boy living in the slums of Beirut.
Egyptian director A. B. Shawky’s road movie Yomeddine, about a leper who travels across Egypt in a bid to reconnect with his long-lost family, has scooped best film at the Arab cinema Critics Awards.
The film won the François Chalais Award and went onto tour a slew of festivals, winning the top prize in Tunisia’s Carthage Film Festival, following its premiere in Competition in Cannes last year.
Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki won best director for her 2018 Cannes jury prize winner Capernaum, about the plight of a young refugee boy living in the slums of Beirut.
- 5/18/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker A.B. Shawky makes his feature directorial debut with “Yomeddine,” an underdog story about an outsider who sets out to make sense of the world that refuses to accept him as he is. The film had its world premiere in competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and was the official Egyptian entry for foreign language film consideration at the 91st Academy Awards.
Acquired by Strand Releasing (all North American rights), “Yomeddine” is now set to open later this month in New York and Los Angeles.
The film’s plot follows Beshay — a man cured of leprosy — who has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian desert where he has lived since childhood. Following the death of his wife, he decides to go in search of his roots and confront the world, with his modest possessions strapped to a donkey cart and a traveling companion named Obama, an outcast...
Acquired by Strand Releasing (all North American rights), “Yomeddine” is now set to open later this month in New York and Los Angeles.
The film’s plot follows Beshay — a man cured of leprosy — who has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian desert where he has lived since childhood. Following the death of his wife, he decides to go in search of his roots and confront the world, with his modest possessions strapped to a donkey cart and a traveling companion named Obama, an outcast...
- 5/3/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
"Let's go find our family." Strand Releasing has debuted an official Us trailer for the Egyptian indie drama Yomeddine, from Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker A.B. Shawky making his feature directorial debut. This little film premiered in-competition at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and it's a buddy road trip comedy from Egypt about a couple of misfits who venture out into the world hoping to find a bit of hospitality and maybe a family. Rady Gamal stars as Beshay, a man cured of leprosy who has never left the leper colony in the Egyptian desert where he has lived since childhood. The small cast includes Ahmed Abdelhafiz, Osama Abdallah, Mohamed Abdel Azim, and Shahira Fahmy. This soulful story is full of heart and joy, despite their circumstances, and it is indeed a "life-affirming" and "cheerful" film worthy of discovering. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for A.B. Shawky's Yomeddine, direct from...
- 5/1/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Nadine Labaki and A.B. Shawky’s films gained three nods each.
Two 2018 Cannes Palme d’Or contenders top the third edition of the Annual Critics Awards organised by the Arab Cinema Centre (Acc).
Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Egyptian director A. B. Shawky’s Yomeddine have both clinched three nominations.
Following with two nominations each are Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s drama The Reports On Sarah And Saleem, about the ill-fated affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, and Moroccan director Meryem Benm’Barek’s Sofia, revolving around a woman in Casablanca who illegally gives birth out of wedlock.
Two 2018 Cannes Palme d’Or contenders top the third edition of the Annual Critics Awards organised by the Arab Cinema Centre (Acc).
Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Egyptian director A. B. Shawky’s Yomeddine have both clinched three nominations.
Following with two nominations each are Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s drama The Reports On Sarah And Saleem, about the ill-fated affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, and Moroccan director Meryem Benm’Barek’s Sofia, revolving around a woman in Casablanca who illegally gives birth out of wedlock.
- 4/25/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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