It’s a momentous Cannes for Cairo-based film professionals Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as they mark the 15th anniversary of the creation of marketing and distribution company Mad Solutions and the 10th anniversary of spin-off the Arab Cinema Center (Acc).
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
- 5/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
As Qumra kicks off its second edition with 33 new projects selected (see the full list here), here are updates from several projects selected for the inaugural edition in 2015.Degrade, Arab and Tarzan Abunasser’s story of 12 women in a Gaza hair salon, was selected for C
As Qumra kicks off its second edition with 33 new projects selected (see the full list here), here are updates from several projects selected for the inaugural edition in 2015.
Degrade, Arab and Tarzan Abunasser’s story of 12 women in a Gaza hair salon, was selected for Cannes’ Critics Week soon after its presentation in Qumra, and went on to screen at other festivals including Toronto, London and Dubai. Elle Driver handles sales.
Mountain (pictured), João Salaviza’s Portugal-set coming-of-age story, was a world premiere in Venice Critics’ Week and went on to screen in San Sebastian and Rotterdam.
Frenzy, Emin Alper’s drama about two brothers in upheaval in Istanbul, had its world...
As Qumra kicks off its second edition with 33 new projects selected (see the full list here), here are updates from several projects selected for the inaugural edition in 2015.
Degrade, Arab and Tarzan Abunasser’s story of 12 women in a Gaza hair salon, was selected for Cannes’ Critics Week soon after its presentation in Qumra, and went on to screen at other festivals including Toronto, London and Dubai. Elle Driver handles sales.
Mountain (pictured), João Salaviza’s Portugal-set coming-of-age story, was a world premiere in Venice Critics’ Week and went on to screen in San Sebastian and Rotterdam.
Frenzy, Emin Alper’s drama about two brothers in upheaval in Istanbul, had its world...
- 3/5/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- 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
Annemarie Jacir, Bassem Breish and Hala Lotfy to present projects at co-pro event taking place during Dubai International Film Festival.
Arab cinema focused co-production event the Dubai Film Connection (Dec 10-14) – taking place within the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) (Dec 9-16) - has unveiled its 2015 line-up.
Returning after a one-year hiatus, the Dfc has unveiled a packed slate of 12 film projects from Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco and Jordan.
Under new criteria for the relaunched event, the projects must have 20% of the budget in place.
“We were originally going for 10 projects but as there were so many good submissions we managed to squeeze in an extra two,” said director Jane Williams, who has returned as head of the event.
Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, Lebanese filmmaker Bassem Breish and Egypt’s Hala Lotfy will be among the directors presenting their upcoming feature projects.
Jacir will present her Nazareth-set dark comedy Wajib revolving around an estranged father...
Arab cinema focused co-production event the Dubai Film Connection (Dec 10-14) – taking place within the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) (Dec 9-16) - has unveiled its 2015 line-up.
Returning after a one-year hiatus, the Dfc has unveiled a packed slate of 12 film projects from Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco and Jordan.
Under new criteria for the relaunched event, the projects must have 20% of the budget in place.
“We were originally going for 10 projects but as there were so many good submissions we managed to squeeze in an extra two,” said director Jane Williams, who has returned as head of the event.
Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, Lebanese filmmaker Bassem Breish and Egypt’s Hala Lotfy will be among the directors presenting their upcoming feature projects.
Jacir will present her Nazareth-set dark comedy Wajib revolving around an estranged father...
- 11/16/2015
- 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
Mexican actor joins lists of ‘masters’ for Dfi’s inaugural Qumra event, which will see 31 projects from 29 countries involved.
Mexican actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal has joined the list of ‘masters’ for the Doha Film Institute’s inaugural Qumra event, running March 6-11.
The masters previously reported in December are Abderrahmane Sissako, Leila Hatami Cristian Mungiu and Danis Tanović. “They represent different regions and different types of cinema, they all have mastered their craft,” Dfi CEO Fatma Al Remaihi told Screen. “But they are also all passionate to share their experience to help the next generation.”
Dfi has announced the 31 projects from 29 countries selected for Qumra, including 23 narrative features, four feature documentaries and four short films. There are 22 projects who are supported by Dfi and a further nine from Qatari independent filmmakers.
A total of 19 of the projects are in development with the rest in post production.
The 31 projects (full list below) include the story...
Mexican actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal has joined the list of ‘masters’ for the Doha Film Institute’s inaugural Qumra event, running March 6-11.
The masters previously reported in December are Abderrahmane Sissako, Leila Hatami Cristian Mungiu and Danis Tanović. “They represent different regions and different types of cinema, they all have mastered their craft,” Dfi CEO Fatma Al Remaihi told Screen. “But they are also all passionate to share their experience to help the next generation.”
Dfi has announced the 31 projects from 29 countries selected for Qumra, including 23 narrative features, four feature documentaries and four short films. There are 22 projects who are supported by Dfi and a further nine from Qatari independent filmmakers.
A total of 19 of the projects are in development with the rest in post production.
The 31 projects (full list below) include the story...
- 2/9/2015
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Academy Awards
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Khadija Al-Salami’s I Am Nojoom, Age 10 And Divorced was awarded best fiction film in the Muhr Feature competition at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival (Diff), while Nujoom Al Ghanem’s Nearby Sky won the award for best non-fiction film.
Al-Salami’s Yemen-uae-France co-production is based on the true story of a Yemeni teenager who fought to escape an arranged marriage to a much older man.
Al Ghanem’s Nearby Sky is about a female Emirati camel owner who ignores the disapproval of local society to enter her camels into beauty pageants and auctions. Based in the UAE, Al Ghanem has previously made several award-winning documentaries.
The Jury Prize in the Muhr Feature competition went to Salim Abu Jabal’s documentary Roshmia, about an old couple who face losing their home due the building of a road between Mount Carmel and the sea. Hisham Zaman’s Letter To The King, Yacine Mohamed...
Al-Salami’s Yemen-uae-France co-production is based on the true story of a Yemeni teenager who fought to escape an arranged marriage to a much older man.
Al Ghanem’s Nearby Sky is about a female Emirati camel owner who ignores the disapproval of local society to enter her camels into beauty pageants and auctions. Based in the UAE, Al Ghanem has previously made several award-winning documentaries.
The Jury Prize in the Muhr Feature competition went to Salim Abu Jabal’s documentary Roshmia, about an old couple who face losing their home due the building of a road between Mount Carmel and the sea. Hisham Zaman’s Letter To The King, Yacine Mohamed...
- 12/16/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Titles include the world premiere of thriller I’m Dead and the new feature from Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed.
The Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 10-17) has unveiled the competition line-up for the Muhr Feature Awards.
The awards, first launched in 2006, aims to recognise artistic excellence from within the Arab world.
Titles include:
Dolphins, Waleed Al ShehhiI’m Dead, Yacine Mohamed BenelhadjI am Nujoom, Aged 10 and Divorced, Khadija Al-SalamiThe Sea is Behind, Hicham LasriIn This Land Lay Graves of Mine, Reine MitriA Letter to the King, Hisham ZamanThe Narrow Frame of Midnight, Tala HadidThe Council,Yahya AlabdallahOut of the Ordinary, Daoud Abdel Sayed
Dolphins is directed by Waleed Al Shehhi, who secured funding from Diff’s post-production fund Enjaaz in cooperation with Watani and Filmi before going on to win the Iwc Filmmaker Award during the 2013 edition of the Festival.
In its world premiere, Dolphins follows the intertwined stories of three people within a 24 hour period...
The Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 10-17) has unveiled the competition line-up for the Muhr Feature Awards.
The awards, first launched in 2006, aims to recognise artistic excellence from within the Arab world.
Titles include:
Dolphins, Waleed Al ShehhiI’m Dead, Yacine Mohamed BenelhadjI am Nujoom, Aged 10 and Divorced, Khadija Al-SalamiThe Sea is Behind, Hicham LasriIn This Land Lay Graves of Mine, Reine MitriA Letter to the King, Hisham ZamanThe Narrow Frame of Midnight, Tala HadidThe Council,Yahya AlabdallahOut of the Ordinary, Daoud Abdel Sayed
Dolphins is directed by Waleed Al Shehhi, who secured funding from Diff’s post-production fund Enjaaz in cooperation with Watani and Filmi before going on to win the Iwc Filmmaker Award during the 2013 edition of the Festival.
In its world premiere, Dolphins follows the intertwined stories of three people within a 24 hour period...
- 11/3/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- 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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