Exclusive: Watermelon Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights for Palestinian director Mohamed Jabaly’s documentary Life Is Beautiful about his experiences after he became stranded in Norway in 2014 when Gaza’s borders were shut indefinitely.
The distribution agreement, which includes all North American theatrical and ancillary rights, was negotiated in Cannes by Munir Atalla, head of Production and Acquisitionat Watermelon Pictures and Esther van Messel of First Hand Films.
Jabaly was attending a film festival in Tromsø in 2014, when the borders to Gaza closed. Little did he know that it would be seven years before he could see his family again.
While waiting for the situation to change, Mohamed’s friends back home tell him to seek asylum or get married to stay in Norway. But Mohamed refuses to give up his Palestinian identity and insists on being recognized for his work.
After being denied a work permit after several appeals,...
The distribution agreement, which includes all North American theatrical and ancillary rights, was negotiated in Cannes by Munir Atalla, head of Production and Acquisitionat Watermelon Pictures and Esther van Messel of First Hand Films.
Jabaly was attending a film festival in Tromsø in 2014, when the borders to Gaza closed. Little did he know that it would be seven years before he could see his family again.
While waiting for the situation to change, Mohamed’s friends back home tell him to seek asylum or get married to stay in Norway. But Mohamed refuses to give up his Palestinian identity and insists on being recognized for his work.
After being denied a work permit after several appeals,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSCapital.The Palestinian Film Institute and several prominent filmmakers—including Sky Hopinka, Miko Revereza, Maryam Tafakory, Charlie Shackleton, and Basma al-Sharif—have withdrawn from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in response to the festival’s messaging about the war in Gaza. On the festival’s opening night, a group of activists took to the stage holding a banner that read “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”; on November 10, IDFA published a statement apologizing to patrons who may have been offended by this “hurtful slogan.” On November 11, the Pfi and the advocacy group Workers for Palestine Netherlands announced their withdrawal from IDFA: “As the world’s largest documentary film festival, IDFA holds the responsibility to respond to the plight of journalists and documentarians on the ground in Gaza,...
- 11/16/2023
- MUBI
Festival statement followed a Pfi statement lambasting IDFA’s earlier statement.
International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) published its third statement in as many days on Sunday night, following a statement from the Palestine Film Institute (Pfi) urging IDFA to acknowledge that its own earlier statement “unjustly criminalises Palestinian voices and narratives”.
The Pfi announced its withdrawal from all organised activities at the market.
In its new message, the festival repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“Many filmmakers, Palestinians, Israelis, and others, whose work featured at IDFA over the years, showed the world how occupation is the core of this tragedy,...
International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) published its third statement in as many days on Sunday night, following a statement from the Palestine Film Institute (Pfi) urging IDFA to acknowledge that its own earlier statement “unjustly criminalises Palestinian voices and narratives”.
The Pfi announced its withdrawal from all organised activities at the market.
In its new message, the festival repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“Many filmmakers, Palestinians, Israelis, and others, whose work featured at IDFA over the years, showed the world how occupation is the core of this tragedy,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Projects come from 34 different countries.
Projects from Rodrigo Reyes, Ike Nnaebue and Sean McAllister are among 48 titles that will be pitched to international and UK industry representatives and experts at this year’s Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket.
One of the world’s largest documentary and factual pitching forums, MeetMarket moved to the beginning of the festival and will take place on June 15-16 with all projects in the development or production stage.
The projects have been selected from more than 500 submissions. Rodrigo Reyes, whose doc Sanson And Me was the winner of DocFest’s 2022 international competition, is pitching Mexican-us co-pro Warrior Mothers.
Projects from Rodrigo Reyes, Ike Nnaebue and Sean McAllister are among 48 titles that will be pitched to international and UK industry representatives and experts at this year’s Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket.
One of the world’s largest documentary and factual pitching forums, MeetMarket moved to the beginning of the festival and will take place on June 15-16 with all projects in the development or production stage.
The projects have been selected from more than 500 submissions. Rodrigo Reyes, whose doc Sanson And Me was the winner of DocFest’s 2022 international competition, is pitching Mexican-us co-pro Warrior Mothers.
- 4/25/2023
- by Heather Fallon Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
While traveling around the world to present his previous film, “Off Frame”, an all-archival exhumation of Palestinian revolutionary cinema, Mohanad Yaqubi met someone who claimed to have a voluminous collection of pro-Palestinian work . . . in Japan. “R21” actually starts with the meeting of the two in Japan, and the subsequent transfer of the reels of the material, with the filmmaker then placing them in playback equipment, and creating a collage that actually starts with “highlights” of westerns (with Clint Eastwood for example), before moving to the main theme.
“R21 aka Restoring Solidarity” is screening at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the First Look 2023 program
In that fashion, the first footage refers to the 1960 demonstrations in Japan after the signing of the treaty with the US, and soon connects with the struggle of the Plo for Palestinian rights between the 1960 and 1980. An interview with Yasser Arafat, who repeatedly...
“R21 aka Restoring Solidarity” is screening at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the First Look 2023 program
In that fashion, the first footage refers to the 1960 demonstrations in Japan after the signing of the treaty with the US, and soon connects with the struggle of the Plo for Palestinian rights between the 1960 and 1980. An interview with Yasser Arafat, who repeatedly...
- 3/13/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The Tokyo Reels, a project by Subversive Film (Mohanad Yaqubi and Reem Shilleh), was first exhibited as an installation and mini film festival at documenta fifteen. This collection of 20 films depicting the Palestinian struggle was safeguarded for decades by Japanese activists before its preservation by Subversive Film. Following its restoration, the collection served as the basis for R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity (2022), set to have its North American premiere at this year’s True/False Film Festival. In November 2022, as R21 was having its world premiere at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, we spoke with Yaqubi on transnational film […]
The post “A Militant Archiving Process”: Mohanad Yaqubi on R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Militant Archiving Process”: Mohanad Yaqubi on R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/28/2023
- by Sophia Haid, Finn Jubak and Andrei Vilcov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The Tokyo Reels, a project by Subversive Film (Mohanad Yaqubi and Reem Shilleh), was first exhibited as an installation and mini film festival at documenta fifteen. This collection of 20 films depicting the Palestinian struggle was safeguarded for decades by Japanese activists before its preservation by Subversive Film. Following its restoration, the collection served as the basis for R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity (2022), set to have its North American premiere at this year’s True/False Film Festival. In November 2022, as R21 was having its world premiere at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, we spoke with Yaqubi on transnational film […]
The post “A Militant Archiving Process”: Mohanad Yaqubi on R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Militant Archiving Process”: Mohanad Yaqubi on R21 Aka Restoring Solidarity first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/28/2023
- by Sophia Haid, Finn Jubak and Andrei Vilcov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Documentary explores the fight for female emancipation in the Middle East.
Prague-based sales agent Filmotor has boarded Samaher Alqadi’s feature documentary debut As I Want, which is set to play in competition at Cph:dox next week.
The film premiered in the Encounters section of the Berlinale last month and will receive its international debut in the F:act Competition of Copenhagen’s Cph:dox on April 22.
The documentary begins in 2013, during the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. Palestinian filmmaker Alqadi picked up her camera as a weapon against the explosion of sexual violence that was occurring on Cairo’s Tahrir...
Prague-based sales agent Filmotor has boarded Samaher Alqadi’s feature documentary debut As I Want, which is set to play in competition at Cph:dox next week.
The film premiered in the Encounters section of the Berlinale last month and will receive its international debut in the F:act Competition of Copenhagen’s Cph:dox on April 22.
The documentary begins in 2013, during the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. Palestinian filmmaker Alqadi picked up her camera as a weapon against the explosion of sexual violence that was occurring on Cairo’s Tahrir...
- 4/16/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Their filmmaking community has the first-ever official pavilion at the event, sponsored by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.
New films from award-winning documentarian Mohamed Jabaly, artist and filmmaker Larissa Sansour and the latest production from Degradé producer Rashid Abdelhamid are among 14 Palestinian projects to be pitched at a Producers’ Network happy hour event on May 15 in Cannes.
Palestine’s stateless filmmaking community is out in force at Cannes with its first-ever official pavilion at the event, supported by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture in partnership with the French Consulate in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Cultural Fund.
“We’ve had a...
New films from award-winning documentarian Mohamed Jabaly, artist and filmmaker Larissa Sansour and the latest production from Degradé producer Rashid Abdelhamid are among 14 Palestinian projects to be pitched at a Producers’ Network happy hour event on May 15 in Cannes.
Palestine’s stateless filmmaking community is out in force at Cannes with its first-ever official pavilion at the event, supported by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture in partnership with the French Consulate in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Cultural Fund.
“We’ve had a...
- 5/14/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Palestinian filmmakers pay tribute to Yasser Murtaja, who dreamed of travelling the world.
A Palestinian cameraman who worked on dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Human Flow as well as on compatriot Basma Alsharif ’s feature Ouroboros, has died after being shot while covering clashes between Gaza protestors and the Israeli military on Friday.
Both Palestinian and Israeli media outlets reported that Yasser Murtaja, 30, was shot in the stomach by the Israeli military while covering demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border and died later in hospital.
Murtaja, who was married with a young son, was a rising star in Gaza’s...
A Palestinian cameraman who worked on dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Human Flow as well as on compatriot Basma Alsharif ’s feature Ouroboros, has died after being shot while covering clashes between Gaza protestors and the Israeli military on Friday.
Both Palestinian and Israeli media outlets reported that Yasser Murtaja, 30, was shot in the stomach by the Israeli military while covering demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border and died later in hospital.
Murtaja, who was married with a young son, was a rising star in Gaza’s...
- 4/7/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Next month’s Toronto International Film Festival has nearly completed its lineup announcements, and each one is more impressive than the last. Today’s Tiff picks feature a number of slate additions for sections as varied as the forward-focused Discovery, their burgeoning Pop Vr section and even a handful of last minute additions to the Tiff Docs list. New titles of note that have just been announced include the Cannes hit “The Red Turtle,” Wayne Roberts’ “Katie Says Goodbye” and the well-regarded “Sand Storm,” all of which will screen as part of Discovery.
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
- 8/23/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Palestinian hybrid work Ghost Hunting and Brazil’s The Trace [pictured] among works to be presented.
The Marché du Film’s Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22) will put the spotlight on film projects from Brazil and Palestine this year in two separate sessions scheduled for one of its networking breakfasts.
The initiative adds a new dimension to the traditional breakfast “Spotlights” which have previously focused on producers from different territories.
“The idea is to do brief presentations of the projects at the beginning of the breakfasts so that those who are interested can then set up individual meetings,” said Marché chief Jerome Paillard.
“We’re not trying to branch into co-production in any big way, the Cannes Atélier already does that, we just want to set up a framework to support these projects.”
The five other “Spotlights” will present producers from South Africa (Kwazulu Natal Region), the Netherlands, Mexico, Canada...
The Marché du Film’s Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22) will put the spotlight on film projects from Brazil and Palestine this year in two separate sessions scheduled for one of its networking breakfasts.
The initiative adds a new dimension to the traditional breakfast “Spotlights” which have previously focused on producers from different territories.
“The idea is to do brief presentations of the projects at the beginning of the breakfasts so that those who are interested can then set up individual meetings,” said Marché chief Jerome Paillard.
“We’re not trying to branch into co-production in any big way, the Cannes Atélier already does that, we just want to set up a framework to support these projects.”
The five other “Spotlights” will present producers from South Africa (Kwazulu Natal Region), the Netherlands, Mexico, Canada...
- 3/23/2016
- ScreenDaily
Palestinian producers have teamed up to create a new platform to represent their national cinema at market and festivals, which has its first outing at the Dubai Film Market.
Producers Mohanad Yaqubi of Idioms Film and Bassam Jarbawi of Rimsh Film, who are both based in Ramallah, and Raed Andoni of Les Films de Zayna in Paris are spearheading the venture called Future Logic.
The three producers say they created the platform in response to the fact that due to the Middle East conflict Palestinian filmmakers are based all over the world, not just the West Bank, Gaza or Palestinian towns such as Nazareth which currently lie within Israeli borders.
“Palestinian cinema is in a unique situation because it’s no longer connected to one place. Its filmmakers are a diverse bunch, living all the over the world with different life experiences,” explained Andoni.
“Sometimes they live in the West Bank or Gaza. Often they’re...
Producers Mohanad Yaqubi of Idioms Film and Bassam Jarbawi of Rimsh Film, who are both based in Ramallah, and Raed Andoni of Les Films de Zayna in Paris are spearheading the venture called Future Logic.
The three producers say they created the platform in response to the fact that due to the Middle East conflict Palestinian filmmakers are based all over the world, not just the West Bank, Gaza or Palestinian towns such as Nazareth which currently lie within Israeli borders.
“Palestinian cinema is in a unique situation because it’s no longer connected to one place. Its filmmakers are a diverse bunch, living all the over the world with different life experiences,” explained Andoni.
“Sometimes they live in the West Bank or Gaza. Often they’re...
- 12/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
The 11th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) closes today, but film industry professionals will be able to watch many of the Arab films in the selection online for the next nine months.
The Arab titles in the line-up will be available to screen on the Dubai Film Market’s video platform Cinetech for nine months starting from December 18.
“The service is open to all the distributors and sales agents who attended the market,” said Dfm chief Samr Al Marzooqi. “We want these films to continue their sales careers after the market has closed. The Cinetech is the best place to find Arab films.”
Aside from keeping Cinetech live for nine months, the Dfm is also continuing its partnerships with Festival Scope and the Venice Film Festival.
Under the agreement with Festival Scope, the titles in Diff’s Muhr Shorts and Features competitions will be available on the industry platform.
The agreement...
The Arab titles in the line-up will be available to screen on the Dubai Film Market’s video platform Cinetech for nine months starting from December 18.
“The service is open to all the distributors and sales agents who attended the market,” said Dfm chief Samr Al Marzooqi. “We want these films to continue their sales careers after the market has closed. The Cinetech is the best place to find Arab films.”
Aside from keeping Cinetech live for nine months, the Dfm is also continuing its partnerships with Festival Scope and the Venice Film Festival.
Under the agreement with Festival Scope, the titles in Diff’s Muhr Shorts and Features competitions will be available on the industry platform.
The agreement...
- 12/17/2014
- ScreenDaily
Nishtha Jain’s “Gulabi Gang” won Best Film Award in Muhr Asia Africa documentary section at the 9th Dubai Film Festival. Awards were announced at the closing ceremony on Sunday, December 16, 2012.
Sourav Sarangi’s “Char … No Man’s Island” won a special mention in the same category.
Egyptian actress Aida El-Kashef won Best Actress award in Muhr Asia Africa Feature category for Anand Gandhi’s film “Ship of Theseus”.
Musa Syeed’s “Valley of Saints” got a special jury prize in the Muhr Asia Africa feature category.
Complete List of Winners:-
Dubai Expo 2020 People’s Choice award:
• Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar – Ernest Et Celestine (Ernest And Celestine): France
• Karzan Kader – Bekas: Sweden
The annual ‘Prize of the International Critics’ for Arab films from the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci), the world’s foremost body of film writers, academics and critics from over 60 countries, were awarded...
Sourav Sarangi’s “Char … No Man’s Island” won a special mention in the same category.
Egyptian actress Aida El-Kashef won Best Actress award in Muhr Asia Africa Feature category for Anand Gandhi’s film “Ship of Theseus”.
Musa Syeed’s “Valley of Saints” got a special jury prize in the Muhr Asia Africa feature category.
Complete List of Winners:-
Dubai Expo 2020 People’s Choice award:
• Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar – Ernest Et Celestine (Ernest And Celestine): France
• Karzan Kader – Bekas: Sweden
The annual ‘Prize of the International Critics’ for Arab films from the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci), the world’s foremost body of film writers, academics and critics from over 60 countries, were awarded...
- 12/16/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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