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
‘One Day’ actor, Leo Woodall and ‘Black Adam’ star Quintessa Swindell have been set to lead Apple TV+’s conspiracy thriller ‘Prime Target’.
The eight-episode series features a brilliant young math post-graduate, Edward Brooks, played by Woodall, on the verge of a major breakthrough. If he succeeds in finding a pattern in prime numbers, he will hold the key to every computer in the world. Soon he begins to realize an unseen enemy is trying to destroy his idea before it’s even born, which throws him into the orbit of Taylah Sanders, a female Nsa agent, played by Swindell, who’s been tasked with watching and reporting on mathematicians’ behaviour. Together they start to piece the troubling conspiracy Edward is at the heart of.
Also in news – First look images emerge for season 2 of ‘Extraordinary’
The cast also includes Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner Stephen Rea (The Crying Game...
The eight-episode series features a brilliant young math post-graduate, Edward Brooks, played by Woodall, on the verge of a major breakthrough. If he succeeds in finding a pattern in prime numbers, he will hold the key to every computer in the world. Soon he begins to realize an unseen enemy is trying to destroy his idea before it’s even born, which throws him into the orbit of Taylah Sanders, a female Nsa agent, played by Swindell, who’s been tasked with watching and reporting on mathematicians’ behaviour. Together they start to piece the troubling conspiracy Edward is at the heart of.
Also in news – First look images emerge for season 2 of ‘Extraordinary’
The cast also includes Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner Stephen Rea (The Crying Game...
- 2/14/2024
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Berlin Film Festival has appointed Tricia Tuttle, the former head of the BFI London Film Festival, to become the new director of the international film event starting in 2024.
Tuttle will succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
The Berlin Film Festival is the world’s second biggest international film festival after Cannes. It also hosts the European Film Market, a crucial industry gathering where independent films are pitched and sold.
Tuttle was the director of the BFI London Film Festival during a fast-growing five-year era in which audiences nearly doubled before she stepped down after the 2022 edition. She worked as the festival’s deputy for five years before that to her predecessor Clare Stewart. She helped the festival expand outside of London with venues set up across the U.
Tuttle will succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
The Berlin Film Festival is the world’s second biggest international film festival after Cannes. It also hosts the European Film Market, a crucial industry gathering where independent films are pitched and sold.
Tuttle was the director of the BFI London Film Festival during a fast-growing five-year era in which audiences nearly doubled before she stepped down after the 2022 edition. She worked as the festival’s deputy for five years before that to her predecessor Clare Stewart. She helped the festival expand outside of London with venues set up across the U.
- 12/12/2023
- by Erik Kirschbaum and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The German culture ministry has unveiled the new head of the Berlin International Film Festival, who will take over from co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who are stepping down after next year’s Berlinale. Tricia Tuttle, formerly director of the BFI London Film Festival, will take over as the sole director of the Berlinale from after next year’s event.
The Berlinale announced the replacement on Tuesday, following months of speculation and media chatter surrounding Germany’s number-one film festival. Chatrian and Rissenbeek have announced they will be leaving when their contracts expire next year. The German Ministry for Culture and Media, the main financier of the Berlinale, had previously said it would scrap the dual director set-up and revert to a single festival director from 2025 on.
Tuttle, who was BFI festivals director from October 2018 to April of this year, is currently Head of Directing Fiction at the UK...
The Berlinale announced the replacement on Tuesday, following months of speculation and media chatter surrounding Germany’s number-one film festival. Chatrian and Rissenbeek have announced they will be leaving when their contracts expire next year. The German Ministry for Culture and Media, the main financier of the Berlinale, had previously said it would scrap the dual director set-up and revert to a single festival director from 2025 on.
Tuttle, who was BFI festivals director from October 2018 to April of this year, is currently Head of Directing Fiction at the UK...
- 12/12/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The German film industry is eagerly awaiting the appointment of the Berlin Film Festival’s new director, expected to be announced tomorrow, and as the guessing game surrounding the choice shifts into high gear, one thing looks increasingly clear: the new head will face considerable financial and political challenges at the Berlinale.
Speculation in the local industry has been rife with likely candidates to succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
A number of potential contenders have now quashed those rumors, among them Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy, who made it clear to Variety that he was not in the running and was very content in his current post; Kirsten Niehuus, head of funding org Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, who said she...
Speculation in the local industry has been rife with likely candidates to succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
A number of potential contenders have now quashed those rumors, among them Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy, who made it clear to Variety that he was not in the running and was very content in his current post; Kirsten Niehuus, head of funding org Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, who said she...
- 12/11/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Bendita Films Sales has taken worldwide rights outside Benelux to Jawad Rhalib’s social drama “Amal,” toplining award-winning Belgian actress Lubna Azabal, who appeared in Oscar-nominated films “Paradise Now” and “Incendies.”
Télescope has acquired the film’s distribution rights for the Benelux region.
“Amal” world premieres Nov. 17, competing in main competition at Tallinn’s 27th Black Nights Film Festival edition.
Set up at prolific, successful Belgian outfit Scope Pictures, “Amal” is produced by Geneviéve Lemal and co-produced by Ellen de Waele.
Azabal plays an idealistic and passionate French literature teacher in a suburban Brussels school, who becomes the target of intense hostility from students and colleagues tied to Islamic extremism when she chooses to help a teenage Muslim girl accused of homosexuality.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based Bendita Films Sales will make “Amal’s” market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market in February.
“We were completely dazzled by the film’s narrative strength,...
Télescope has acquired the film’s distribution rights for the Benelux region.
“Amal” world premieres Nov. 17, competing in main competition at Tallinn’s 27th Black Nights Film Festival edition.
Set up at prolific, successful Belgian outfit Scope Pictures, “Amal” is produced by Geneviéve Lemal and co-produced by Ellen de Waele.
Azabal plays an idealistic and passionate French literature teacher in a suburban Brussels school, who becomes the target of intense hostility from students and colleagues tied to Islamic extremism when she chooses to help a teenage Muslim girl accused of homosexuality.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based Bendita Films Sales will make “Amal’s” market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market in February.
“We were completely dazzled by the film’s narrative strength,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/28/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/28/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/28/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Oscars 2024: Palestine selects Venice doc ‘Bye Bye Tiberias’; Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Panama enter
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/25/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Exec had taken time away from organisation earlier this year for work related health reasons.
Bero Beyer is to step down as CEO of Netherlands Film Fund.
The public funding agency said that after a period of illness and recovery, Beyer has decided not to return to his position and will resign as of October 1.
In January, Beyer stepped down temporarily from his post for what was described at the time as “work-related health reasons.”
The fund said today that Sandra den Hamer will now extend her work as interim director for a longer period, working closely with business director George van Breemen.
Bero Beyer is to step down as CEO of Netherlands Film Fund.
The public funding agency said that after a period of illness and recovery, Beyer has decided not to return to his position and will resign as of October 1.
In January, Beyer stepped down temporarily from his post for what was described at the time as “work-related health reasons.”
The fund said today that Sandra den Hamer will now extend her work as interim director for a longer period, working closely with business director George van Breemen.
- 9/19/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Golden Globes is investigating Egyptian journalist Howaida Hamdy, a Globes voter and member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, for writing on social media that “Hollywood is the Zionists’ stronghold” and allegedly publishing other anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments in her work, TheWrap has learned.
An individual familiar with the matter told TheWrap that the organization, now privately owned by Dick Clark Productions, was looking into Hamdy following a report by Camera, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, accusing Hamdy of “extremism” and the “glorification of terrorism.”
A tweet from Hamdy with English translation
Hamdy did not respond to two attempts to reach her through her X social media account.
Tamar Sternthal, director of Camera’s Israeli office, told TheWrap that Hamdy “supported targeting Israeli civilians in a March 2022 film critique she wrote in Arabic for her local audience.”
In that review of “Huda’s Salon,...
An individual familiar with the matter told TheWrap that the organization, now privately owned by Dick Clark Productions, was looking into Hamdy following a report by Camera, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, accusing Hamdy of “extremism” and the “glorification of terrorism.”
A tweet from Hamdy with English translation
Hamdy did not respond to two attempts to reach her through her X social media account.
Tamar Sternthal, director of Camera’s Israeli office, told TheWrap that Hamdy “supported targeting Israeli civilians in a March 2022 film critique she wrote in Arabic for her local audience.”
In that review of “Huda’s Salon,...
- 8/27/2023
- by Libby Hill
- The Wrap
Peter Gabriel creates a slow-building metaphor for radical terrorism on “Four Kinds of Horses,” the latest single he’s released from his upcoming album, i/o.
On the song, which made its debut Friday as a remix (the “Bright-Side Mix,” by Mark “Spike” Stent), he sings, “Your mind is made up so certain what is right/But when they ordered everything/Will they see you were born so bright.” The music, which features some keys courtesy of Brian Eno, feels atmospheric, swirling and sparkling around Gabriel’s voice. Different mixes...
On the song, which made its debut Friday as a remix (the “Bright-Side Mix,” by Mark “Spike” Stent), he sings, “Your mind is made up so certain what is right/But when they ordered everything/Will they see you were born so bright.” The music, which features some keys courtesy of Brian Eno, feels atmospheric, swirling and sparkling around Gabriel’s voice. Different mixes...
- 5/5/2023
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Peter Schrurs has taken over as interim director for at least three months.
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
- 1/31/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has debuted the trailer (below) for the Israeli-Ukrainian drama “Valeria Is Getting Married,” which will have its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons Extra Friday.
The film will have its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 14, where it is part of the Contemporary World Cinema lineup.
The film, directed by Israeli female filmmaker Michal Vinik, is shot from the perspective of two Ukrainian sisters, and follows the tense emotional journey that unfolds over the course of one day. Valeria (Dasha Tvoronovich) arrives in Israel to meet the man she is supposed to marry, thanks to a deal made online. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister Christina (Lena Fraifeld), who is happy with her new life in Israel, but Valeria struggles with the decision.
The accessible, emotionally-charged chamber drama, confined to a few interior rooms for a large part of the film,...
The film will have its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 14, where it is part of the Contemporary World Cinema lineup.
The film, directed by Israeli female filmmaker Michal Vinik, is shot from the perspective of two Ukrainian sisters, and follows the tense emotional journey that unfolds over the course of one day. Valeria (Dasha Tvoronovich) arrives in Israel to meet the man she is supposed to marry, thanks to a deal made online. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister Christina (Lena Fraifeld), who is happy with her new life in Israel, but Valeria struggles with the decision.
The accessible, emotionally-charged chamber drama, confined to a few interior rooms for a large part of the film,...
- 9/1/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Rocket Science has boarded the biopic “The Good Spy,” about CIA operative Robert Ames, from Oscar-nominated “Paradise Now” and “Omar” director Hany Abu-Assad.
The pic is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kai Bird’s biography of Ames. Scott Frazier (“Berliner”) is adapting for screen.
“Free Solo” and “Everest” producer Evan Hayes will produce under his Ace (Anomaly Content & Entertainment) production company. Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes will executive produce with Frazier, while Bird will act as a consultant on the project.
Rocket Science is financing the film and will co-represent worldwide sales with CAA Media Finance.
Said Abu-Assad: “When Robert Ames moved deeper into the life of Ali Hasan Salameh, a prominent Plo member, he realizes that not only is he crossing the line between the CIA and being involved in his enemy’s cause, but the friendship between the two men leads to a certain threat to the establishment of both sides.
The pic is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kai Bird’s biography of Ames. Scott Frazier (“Berliner”) is adapting for screen.
“Free Solo” and “Everest” producer Evan Hayes will produce under his Ace (Anomaly Content & Entertainment) production company. Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes will executive produce with Frazier, while Bird will act as a consultant on the project.
Rocket Science is financing the film and will co-represent worldwide sales with CAA Media Finance.
Said Abu-Assad: “When Robert Ames moved deeper into the life of Ali Hasan Salameh, a prominent Plo member, he realizes that not only is he crossing the line between the CIA and being involved in his enemy’s cause, but the friendship between the two men leads to a certain threat to the establishment of both sides.
- 5/22/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Dubai-based distribution and production outfit Front Row Filmed Entertainment has boarded Arab-language comedy “Abdelinho,” directed by Morocco’s Hicham Ayouch and toplined by Ali Suliman (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”).
The move comes as Front Row, which is a prominent Mena region indie distributor, ramps up its production side following its Arabic adaptation of Italian dramedy “Perfect Strangers” that it produced in tandem with Egypt’s Film Clinic. The redo was recently acquired by Netflix and is being touted as a local hit.
“Abdelinho” is a coming-of-age-comedy set in a small town in Morocco. It’s centered around its titular character, a gentle-spirited dreamer who has a strong fascination with Brazil. Accordingly, Abdelinho speaks Portuguese and dances the samba.
His life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a televangelist played by Suliman, the prominent Palestinian thesp who broke out in Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar-nominated 2005 film “Paradise Now” and...
The move comes as Front Row, which is a prominent Mena region indie distributor, ramps up its production side following its Arabic adaptation of Italian dramedy “Perfect Strangers” that it produced in tandem with Egypt’s Film Clinic. The redo was recently acquired by Netflix and is being touted as a local hit.
“Abdelinho” is a coming-of-age-comedy set in a small town in Morocco. It’s centered around its titular character, a gentle-spirited dreamer who has a strong fascination with Brazil. Accordingly, Abdelinho speaks Portuguese and dances the samba.
His life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a televangelist played by Suliman, the prominent Palestinian thesp who broke out in Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar-nominated 2005 film “Paradise Now” and...
- 5/10/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A trip to the hairdresser’s turns sour in Huda’s Salon, a gripping thriller written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now). Inspired by chilling real events in Palestine, it sees young mother Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi) drugged by Huda (Manal Awad), who strips her naked and takes compromising pictures of her with a man, who’s clearly done this before.
Huda is working with the secret service, and intends to blackmail Reem into joining her. Huda is confident that Reem’s husband won’t defend his wife’s honor, and she might well be right. While Reem goes about her daily life in a traumatized daze, trying to figure out what to do, Huda is captured by the resistance and interrogated underground.
It’s a tense, grim scenario in which you know nobody will escape unharmed. But dark humor occasionally lightens the load, and is in particularly safe hands with Awad,...
Huda is working with the secret service, and intends to blackmail Reem into joining her. Huda is confident that Reem’s husband won’t defend his wife’s honor, and she might well be right. While Reem goes about her daily life in a traumatized daze, trying to figure out what to do, Huda is captured by the resistance and interrogated underground.
It’s a tense, grim scenario in which you know nobody will escape unharmed. But dark humor occasionally lightens the load, and is in particularly safe hands with Awad,...
- 3/7/2022
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Hair salons are sacred spaces. Where else could one catch up on the latest neighborhood gossip and engage in mindless chit-chat, while getting treated to a wash, trim and blow-out? But in “Paradise Now“ director Hany Abu-Assad’s restrained yet gripping “Huda’s Salon,” a feminist political thriller whose philosophical observations are richer than its white-knuckle moments, the titular Bethlehem joint secretly operates as something other than a pampering safe haven. Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi) doesn’t know this as she takes a seat at Huda’s (Manal Awad) modest place on an especially quiet day, before her innocent little excursion costs her a great deal of irreversible trouble.
It all starts cordially enough between the two Palestinian women, a pair of friends and allies who’ve put up with their own share of patriarchal nonsense, both inside their families and on a macro level, within the oppressed Palestine long occupied by Israeli forces.
It all starts cordially enough between the two Palestinian women, a pair of friends and allies who’ve put up with their own share of patriarchal nonsense, both inside their families and on a macro level, within the oppressed Palestine long occupied by Israeli forces.
- 3/4/2022
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
“Do you think you’re living in Sweden?” asks the titular hairstylist of “Huda’s Salon” with a sigh, although her question is surely rhetorical: After all, both she and the captor who is conducting her inquisition actually reside amid the brain-bending complexity of Bethlehem.
For women like Huda, there is no one to rely on, no one to trust, no one to confide in. And when it comes to self-protective betrayal, she has learned her lessons well.
Writer-director Hany Abu-Assad envisions his characters as nesting dolls, each enclosed by someone bigger or more powerful. Huda is a victim of the Palestinian resistance, pitiless spies who are watched at every step by equally unforgiving Israeli soldiers. Her victim is Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi), a young mother who simply wants a bit of a break.
Like all women in her punitively patriarchal family, Reem has only two approved roles — dutiful wife and...
For women like Huda, there is no one to rely on, no one to trust, no one to confide in. And when it comes to self-protective betrayal, she has learned her lessons well.
Writer-director Hany Abu-Assad envisions his characters as nesting dolls, each enclosed by someone bigger or more powerful. Huda is a victim of the Palestinian resistance, pitiless spies who are watched at every step by equally unforgiving Israeli soldiers. Her victim is Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi), a young mother who simply wants a bit of a break.
Like all women in her punitively patriarchal family, Reem has only two approved roles — dutiful wife and...
- 3/3/2022
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
Grounded in a profound sense of duty, Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad has served as the premiere cinematic spokesperson for his people’s plight living under Israeli occupation for over half a century. Presenting a nuanced, yet piercing window into collective impotence in the face of injustice, his films “Paradise Now” and “Omar” received Academy Award nominations, prompting international attention on his inevitably political art.
But in the aftermath of Oscar recognition, the filmmaker tried his hand at a more inspirational tale with “The Idol” and eventually made his English-language debut with “The Mountain Between Us,” starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. Now, Abu-Assad has not only returned home, but also to his more tense and taut dramatic sensibilities with “Huda’s Salon,” a layered, edge-of-your-seat thriller about the many perils women face in Palestine. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and is being released by IFC Films this week.
But in the aftermath of Oscar recognition, the filmmaker tried his hand at a more inspirational tale with “The Idol” and eventually made his English-language debut with “The Mountain Between Us,” starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. Now, Abu-Assad has not only returned home, but also to his more tense and taut dramatic sensibilities with “Huda’s Salon,” a layered, edge-of-your-seat thriller about the many perils women face in Palestine. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and is being released by IFC Films this week.
- 3/3/2022
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad’s humanistic approach to political subjects has earned him worldwide acclaim. His films “Paradise Now” and “Omar” were both Oscar-nominated in the Best Foreign Language category (now known as Best International Feature Film), and the latter won the Special Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Both focused on ordinary people whose lives are manipulated and torn apart by the military tension of their surroundings.
Continue reading ‘Huda’s Salon’ Trailer: New Mother Plays Spy Games in Upcoming Political Thriller from Oscar Nominee Hany Abu-Assad at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Huda’s Salon’ Trailer: New Mother Plays Spy Games in Upcoming Political Thriller from Oscar Nominee Hany Abu-Assad at The Playlist.
- 2/5/2022
- by Jake Sweltz
- The Playlist
In the gripping, naturalistic drama “The Flag” (“Alam”), a Palestinian-Israeli teen, living in a village in the Galilee, undergoes a political awakening catalyzed by a pretty, outspoken girl from his high school class. He joins her, along with some of his buddies, to secretly replace the Israeli flag flying from their school’s rooftop with a Palestinian one on the eve of a visit by a prominent Israeli official.
Encompassing a love story and a coming-of-age story, “The Flag” is the first feature directed and written by Firas Khoury, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, known for his prize-winning shorts “Maradona’s Legs” and “Yellow Mums.” The producers include Marie-Pierre Macia and Claire Gadéa from MPM Film (France), Melik Kochbati from Paprika Films (Tunisia) and Ossama Bawardi of Philistine Films (Jordan). Boasting development dollars and support from some of the world’s most prestigious and competitive international funds and ateliers, “The...
Encompassing a love story and a coming-of-age story, “The Flag” is the first feature directed and written by Firas Khoury, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, known for his prize-winning shorts “Maradona’s Legs” and “Yellow Mums.” The producers include Marie-Pierre Macia and Claire Gadéa from MPM Film (France), Melik Kochbati from Paprika Films (Tunisia) and Ossama Bawardi of Philistine Films (Jordan). Boasting development dollars and support from some of the world’s most prestigious and competitive international funds and ateliers, “The...
- 11/24/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
There’s no escape for the women in Hany Abu-Assad’s blistering new film “Huda’s Salon,” a fearless statement on gender oppression shaped as an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Back in top form, the acclaimed director behind stunners such as “Paradise Now” and “Omar” returns to dissecting the perilous Palestinian experience under Israeli control.
Read More: Toronto Film Fest 2021 Preview: 16 Must-See Movies To Watch
Before his camera enters the eponymous beautification business where lives are upended, Abu-Assad eases us into the reality of his people via snippets of quotidian interactions in the occupied territories.
Continue reading ‘Huda’s Salon’: Hany Abu-Assad Offers a Fearless Reckoning on Women’s Oppression in Occupied Palestine [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.
Read More: Toronto Film Fest 2021 Preview: 16 Must-See Movies To Watch
Before his camera enters the eponymous beautification business where lives are upended, Abu-Assad eases us into the reality of his people via snippets of quotidian interactions in the occupied territories.
Continue reading ‘Huda’s Salon’: Hany Abu-Assad Offers a Fearless Reckoning on Women’s Oppression in Occupied Palestine [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.
- 9/12/2021
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Playlist
Hany Abu Assad — the two-time Oscar nominee behind Paradise Now and Omar — didn’t intend to make another Palestinian movie. But a query from his producer wife sparked an idea, an idea which would eventually become Huda’s Salon, making its world premiere in Toronto and the Nazareth-born director’s first feature since he took a break from the Middle East and ventured to Hollywood with 2016’s The Mountain Between Us (starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba).
Set in Bethlehem in the West Bank, the thriller centers on a young woman who finds her life turned upside down after a simple trip to a ...
Set in Bethlehem in the West Bank, the thriller centers on a young woman who finds her life turned upside down after a simple trip to a ...
- 9/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hany Abu Assad — the two-time Oscar nominee behind Paradise Now and Omar — didn’t intend to make another Palestinian movie. But a query from his producer wife sparked an idea, an idea which would eventually become Huda’s Salon, making its world premiere in Toronto and the Nazareth-born director’s first feature since he took a break from the Middle East and ventured to Hollywood with 2016’s The Mountain Between Us (starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba).
Set in Bethlehem in the West Bank, the thriller centers on a young woman who finds her life turned upside down after a simple trip to a ...
Set in Bethlehem in the West Bank, the thriller centers on a young woman who finds her life turned upside down after a simple trip to a ...
- 9/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Hany Abu-Assad, the acclaimed Dutch-Palestinian director of Oscar-nominated “Paradise Now” and “Omar,” has broken new ground with “Huda’s Salon” which world premiered Sept. 9 at Toronto in the competitive Platform section.
The female-driven tense spy thriller is headlined by Maisa Abd Elhadi (“The Angel”) who stars as Reem, a young mother who falls into a trap during a visit at a hair salon run by Huda, a seemingly friendly woman working for the Israeli secret service. While being blackmailed by the Israeli secret service, Reem has to cope with her controlling husband and a Palestinian resistance agent who suspect she is a traitor.
“Huda’s Salon” marks the helmer’s follow up to Fox’s “The Mountains Between Us” with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. Abu-Assad produced the film with his wife, Amira Diab, through their recently launched banner H&a Production, alongside Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, who runs the Cairo Film Festival,...
The female-driven tense spy thriller is headlined by Maisa Abd Elhadi (“The Angel”) who stars as Reem, a young mother who falls into a trap during a visit at a hair salon run by Huda, a seemingly friendly woman working for the Israeli secret service. While being blackmailed by the Israeli secret service, Reem has to cope with her controlling husband and a Palestinian resistance agent who suspect she is a traitor.
“Huda’s Salon” marks the helmer’s follow up to Fox’s “The Mountains Between Us” with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. Abu-Assad produced the film with his wife, Amira Diab, through their recently launched banner H&a Production, alongside Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, who runs the Cairo Film Festival,...
- 9/11/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Self or nation? Loyalty or betrayal? Stay or leave?
These are the questions pulsing through Huda’s Salon, the eighth film from Hany Abu-Assad. They are not unfamiliar themes for the Palestinian director; his previous films, including the Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Omar, explored similar questions with precision and sensitivity. But Huda’s Salon, a tightly conceived political thriller based on real events, heightens the stakes of these queries by applying them to Palestinian women, whose oppression under Israeli occupation is compounded by the patriarchal forces within their homes and communities.
Huda’s Salon opens with a humorous and congenial scene of bonding. Huda (Manal Awad), a stylist in Bethlehem,...
These are the questions pulsing through Huda’s Salon, the eighth film from Hany Abu-Assad. They are not unfamiliar themes for the Palestinian director; his previous films, including the Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Omar, explored similar questions with precision and sensitivity. But Huda’s Salon, a tightly conceived political thriller based on real events, heightens the stakes of these queries by applying them to Palestinian women, whose oppression under Israeli occupation is compounded by the patriarchal forces within their homes and communities.
Huda’s Salon opens with a humorous and congenial scene of bonding. Huda (Manal Awad), a stylist in Bethlehem,...
Self or nation? Loyalty or betrayal? Stay or leave?
These are the questions pulsing through Huda’s Salon, the eighth film from Hany Abu-Assad. They are not unfamiliar themes for the Palestinian director; his previous films, including the Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Omar, explored similar questions with precision and sensitivity. But Huda’s Salon, a tightly conceived political thriller based on real events, heightens the stakes of these queries by applying them to Palestinian women, whose oppression under Israeli occupation is compounded by the patriarchal forces within their homes and communities.
Huda’s Salon opens with a humorous and congenial scene of bonding. Huda (Manal Awad), a stylist in Bethlehem,...
These are the questions pulsing through Huda’s Salon, the eighth film from Hany Abu-Assad. They are not unfamiliar themes for the Palestinian director; his previous films, including the Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Omar, explored similar questions with precision and sensitivity. But Huda’s Salon, a tightly conceived political thriller based on real events, heightens the stakes of these queries by applying them to Palestinian women, whose oppression under Israeli occupation is compounded by the patriarchal forces within their homes and communities.
Huda’s Salon opens with a humorous and congenial scene of bonding. Huda (Manal Awad), a stylist in Bethlehem,...
It’s not often that films shoot in the Occupied Golan Heights, Israel’s contested border territory with Syria and Lebanon.
Characterized by sloping mountains and the ruins of more than 100 Syrian villages, destroyed (by Israel) after the Six Day War in 1967, it makes for an atmospheric filming location. This can be seen in “The Stranger” (Al Garib), a drama making its world premiere in the Venice Critics’ Week section on Monday.
The Arab and German crew shot in rough conditions, including dense fog that hugged the mountain villages that are now reduced to rubble. Slush washed over the empty roads leading to the Syrian border, and heavy snow falls cut off Majdal Shams, the biggest town in the area, from the rest of the world, to create a shadowy darkness in this post-Christmas shoot in 2019 by first-time feature director Ameer Fakher Eldin.
Eldin directed from his own script. He...
Characterized by sloping mountains and the ruins of more than 100 Syrian villages, destroyed (by Israel) after the Six Day War in 1967, it makes for an atmospheric filming location. This can be seen in “The Stranger” (Al Garib), a drama making its world premiere in the Venice Critics’ Week section on Monday.
The Arab and German crew shot in rough conditions, including dense fog that hugged the mountain villages that are now reduced to rubble. Slush washed over the empty roads leading to the Syrian border, and heavy snow falls cut off Majdal Shams, the biggest town in the area, from the rest of the world, to create a shadowy darkness in this post-Christmas shoot in 2019 by first-time feature director Ameer Fakher Eldin.
Eldin directed from his own script. He...
- 9/6/2021
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s fall festival season features a tapestry of in-person, virtual, and hybrid programming from Telluride, Venice, TIFF, and NYFF. One throughline: many of the most anticipated premieres — from “Dune” to “The Power of the Dog” — are arriving to festivals with distribution in hand.
Though the festivals have pared down the size of their lineups amid the pandemic, there’s still plenty for buyers to choose from, from discovery titles to those with bankable elements. Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s “Official Competition” features Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz in a rare appearance on screen together; it still has North American rights available ahead of its Venice premiere. In “Lakewood,” Phillip Noyce directs Naomi Watts as a mother racing to her child during an active-shooter incident, it premieres at TIFF. And “Beba,” a personal documentary from first-time feature director Rebeca Huntt, is catching early buzz as a potential TIFF breakout.
Though the festivals have pared down the size of their lineups amid the pandemic, there’s still plenty for buyers to choose from, from discovery titles to those with bankable elements. Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s “Official Competition” features Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz in a rare appearance on screen together; it still has North American rights available ahead of its Venice premiere. In “Lakewood,” Phillip Noyce directs Naomi Watts as a mother racing to her child during an active-shooter incident, it premieres at TIFF. And “Beba,” a personal documentary from first-time feature director Rebeca Huntt, is catching early buzz as a potential TIFF breakout.
- 9/2/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Filmmaker’s Paradise Now was first Palestinian film nominated for foreign language Oscar in 2006.
IFC Films has picked up North American rights from Memento International to Hany Abu-Assad’s upcoming Toronto world premiere Huda’s Salon.
The filmmaker’s latest feature follows Reem, a young mother married to a jealous man, who goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear.
What should be an ordinary visit turns sour when Huda puts Reem in a difficult spot and blackmails her into betraying her people and working for the secret service of the occupiers. Ali Suliman,...
IFC Films has picked up North American rights from Memento International to Hany Abu-Assad’s upcoming Toronto world premiere Huda’s Salon.
The filmmaker’s latest feature follows Reem, a young mother married to a jealous man, who goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear.
What should be an ordinary visit turns sour when Huda puts Reem in a difficult spot and blackmails her into betraying her people and working for the secret service of the occupiers. Ali Suliman,...
- 8/11/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to “Huda’s Salon,” a drama written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad, the award-winning filmmaker behind “Paradise Now” and “The Mountain Between Us.”
The film is described as a “feminist thriller,” one that unfolds against the backdrop of geopolitical conflict. It follows Reem, a young mother married to a jealous man, who goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. But this visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her.
“Huda’s Salon” will have its world premiere as an official selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in September. IFC Films is planning a release in 2022. The indie studio has two other films playing in Toronto, Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” and Ruth Paxton’s “A Banquet.”
“To finally have the chance to work with IFC Films...
The film is described as a “feminist thriller,” one that unfolds against the backdrop of geopolitical conflict. It follows Reem, a young mother married to a jealous man, who goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. But this visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her.
“Huda’s Salon” will have its world premiere as an official selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival in September. IFC Films is planning a release in 2022. The indie studio has two other films playing in Toronto, Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” and Ruth Paxton’s “A Banquet.”
“To finally have the chance to work with IFC Films...
- 8/11/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Belgian actor Lubna Azabal, who appeared in Oscar nominated films “Paradise Now” and “Incendies,” and French actor Slimane Dazi, who appeared in Oscar nominated “A Prophet” and Palme d’Or contender “Only Lovers Left Alive,” have joined the cast of Shariff Nasr’s buzzy feature debut “El Houb” (“The Love”).
Azabal, 47, ages up to play the role of the protagonist’s elderly mother in the film, which charts a son’s coming out journey to his Moroccan-Dutch family.
As previously reported, the film stars the Dutch TV and theater actor Fahd Larhzaoui – best known for his presenting role on long-running Dutch kids TV series “Huisje Boompje Beestje.”
Nasr, who co-wrote the screenplay with Philip Delmaar, was inspired by Larhzaoui’s own experiences of coming out to his family, which the actor has previously documented in his solo theater shows.
In a statement, the director said of his cast: “It is...
Azabal, 47, ages up to play the role of the protagonist’s elderly mother in the film, which charts a son’s coming out journey to his Moroccan-Dutch family.
As previously reported, the film stars the Dutch TV and theater actor Fahd Larhzaoui – best known for his presenting role on long-running Dutch kids TV series “Huisje Boompje Beestje.”
Nasr, who co-wrote the screenplay with Philip Delmaar, was inspired by Larhzaoui’s own experiences of coming out to his family, which the actor has previously documented in his solo theater shows.
In a statement, the director said of his cast: “It is...
- 6/30/2021
- by Ann-Marie Corvin
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International (“Call Me By Your Name”) has closed a raft of sales on Leah Purcell’s Australian revenge tale “The Drover’s Wife,” and Alex Camilleri’s “Luzzu” which world premiered at SXSW and Sundance.
After selling North American rights to “The Drover’s Wife” to Samuel Goldwyn, Memento has sold “The Drover’s Wife” to the U.K. (Modern Film), Latin America (Encripta), Greece (Spentzos), Bulgaria (Film Vision), Ex Yugoslavia, (Megacom), Indonesia (Pt Falcon) and Airlines (Anuvu). The film is being handled by Roadshow Films in Australia.
A searing Western thriller, the play “The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson” is a reimagining of Henry Lawson’s classic short story “The Drover’s Wife” and an adaptation of Purcell’s successful Australian stage play.
The story is set in 1893, and centers on the heavily pregnant Molly Johnson (Purcell) and her children, who struggle in isolation to survive the harsh Australian...
After selling North American rights to “The Drover’s Wife” to Samuel Goldwyn, Memento has sold “The Drover’s Wife” to the U.K. (Modern Film), Latin America (Encripta), Greece (Spentzos), Bulgaria (Film Vision), Ex Yugoslavia, (Megacom), Indonesia (Pt Falcon) and Airlines (Anuvu). The film is being handled by Roadshow Films in Australia.
A searing Western thriller, the play “The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson” is a reimagining of Henry Lawson’s classic short story “The Drover’s Wife” and an adaptation of Purcell’s successful Australian stage play.
The story is set in 1893, and centers on the heavily pregnant Molly Johnson (Purcell) and her children, who struggle in isolation to survive the harsh Australian...
- 6/22/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International (“Call Me By Your Name”) has boarded “Legend of Destruction,” a thought-provoking animated feature by Israeli filmmaker Gidi Dar (“Ushpizin”), produced by Lama Films.
The film’s unique visual style is being created from 1,500 original paintings which are edited and animated together. The paintings and art direction are being handled by David Polonsky and Michael Faust, the artists behind the Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir.”
Dar co-wrote the script with Shuli Rand, a veteran Israeli actor with whom he also collaborated on “Ushpizin” which competed at Tribeca in 2004. On top of having co-written “Legend of Destruction,” Rand is also leading the voice cast.
Set in Jerusalem during the first Jewish–Roman War, “Legend of Destruction” follows an oppressive Roman governor who is driven out of the city by the people. Due to rampant social inequalities, corruption and injustice, secret groups of religious fanatics appear and seek to rebel in the name of God.
The film’s unique visual style is being created from 1,500 original paintings which are edited and animated together. The paintings and art direction are being handled by David Polonsky and Michael Faust, the artists behind the Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir.”
Dar co-wrote the script with Shuli Rand, a veteran Israeli actor with whom he also collaborated on “Ushpizin” which competed at Tribeca in 2004. On top of having co-written “Legend of Destruction,” Rand is also leading the voice cast.
Set in Jerusalem during the first Jewish–Roman War, “Legend of Destruction” follows an oppressive Roman governor who is driven out of the city by the people. Due to rampant social inequalities, corruption and injustice, secret groups of religious fanatics appear and seek to rebel in the name of God.
- 6/14/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
After 10 consecutive days of violence, the renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict is already considered the worst clash since 2014. For a film community known to be fiercely opposed to the politics led by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers and producers fear the escalation of violence will cause irreparable damage. There have been countless fallouts between Israelis and Palestinians in the region over the last 70 years, but industry executives indicate that the proliferation of social media is taking commentary on the conflict to unprecedented levels.
“Today, because of social media, hatred is spreading much quicker. This is a nightmare, and it will affect relationships in the medium to long term,” predicts Rani Massalha, the Paris-based French-Palestinian producer of Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s “Gaza Mon Amour” which opened at Venice and represented Palestine in the Oscar race this year.
“When I started my career as a director with ‘Girafada,...
“Today, because of social media, hatred is spreading much quicker. This is a nightmare, and it will affect relationships in the medium to long term,” predicts Rani Massalha, the Paris-based French-Palestinian producer of Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s “Gaza Mon Amour” which opened at Venice and represented Palestine in the Oscar race this year.
“When I started my career as a director with ‘Girafada,...
- 5/19/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Participant’s Laura Kim has been promoted to executive vice president of marketing.
The seven-year-veteran of the company had previously served as a senior vice president in film marketing. She will continue to report to the company’s worldwide marketing president Christina Kounelias.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together. Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films,” said Kounelias. “Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
In her new role, Kim assumes expanded duties in independent and international film and series projects at the studio, founded with a mission to...
The seven-year-veteran of the company had previously served as a senior vice president in film marketing. She will continue to report to the company’s worldwide marketing president Christina Kounelias.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together. Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films,” said Kounelias. “Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
In her new role, Kim assumes expanded duties in independent and international film and series projects at the studio, founded with a mission to...
- 4/7/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Participant has promoted veteran executive Laura Kim to executive vice president of marketing, the company announced on Tuesday.
Kim, who first joined Participant in 2014, will focus on independent and international films and series, reporting to Christina Kounelias, Participant’s president of worldwide marketing.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together,” Kounelias said in a statement. “Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films. Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
“I am excited to be working on films and series that move me and that challenge us to try harder and do better,...
Kim, who first joined Participant in 2014, will focus on independent and international films and series, reporting to Christina Kounelias, Participant’s president of worldwide marketing.
“Laura has become a good friend and trusted colleague for the past five years that we have worked closely together,” Kounelias said in a statement. “Her vast knowledge and deep expertise in independent, specialty and international films is second-to-none, contributing greatly to the success of our films. Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values, and on behalf of everyone at the company, we are thrilled to recognize her numerous contributions with this promotion.”
“I am excited to be working on films and series that move me and that challenge us to try harder and do better,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim has been elevated to EVP of Marketing at Participant.
In her new position, Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities, with a focus on independent and foreign films and series.
Kim first joined Participant as SVP of Film Marketing in 2014. During her tenure, she’s been key in working on the company’s specialty features, including such Oscar-winning films as American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, and Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, and the Oscar-nominated films The Look of Silence and Rbg, the latter of which went on to become a documentary box office hit in 2018 with over $14M. Recent marketing efforts include two-time Oscar-nominated Collective, and the upcoming Final Account and My Name Is Pauli Murray, which had its world premiere this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to joining Participant, Kim was principal and founder of Inside Job, a motion picture marketing,...
In her new position, Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities, with a focus on independent and foreign films and series.
Kim first joined Participant as SVP of Film Marketing in 2014. During her tenure, she’s been key in working on the company’s specialty features, including such Oscar-winning films as American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, and Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, and the Oscar-nominated films The Look of Silence and Rbg, the latter of which went on to become a documentary box office hit in 2018 with over $14M. Recent marketing efforts include two-time Oscar-nominated Collective, and the upcoming Final Account and My Name Is Pauli Murray, which had its world premiere this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Prior to joining Participant, Kim was principal and founder of Inside Job, a motion picture marketing,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Executive joined in 2014.
Participant has promoted marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim to EVP of marketing, effective immediately.
Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities with a focus on independent and international films and series combining with impact work. She continues to report to Participant’s president of worldwide marketing Christina Kounelias.
She joined Participant as SVP of film marketing in 2014 and has played an instrumental role on most of the company’s specialty features, including American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, The Look Of Silence, and Rbg.
Most recently she has led marketing...
Participant has promoted marketing and publicity veteran Laura Kim to EVP of marketing, effective immediately.
Kim will assume broadened executive responsibilities with a focus on independent and international films and series combining with impact work. She continues to report to Participant’s president of worldwide marketing Christina Kounelias.
She joined Participant as SVP of film marketing in 2014 and has played an instrumental role on most of the company’s specialty features, including American Factory, A Fantastic Woman, Spotlight, Citizenfour, as well as Monos, Human Flow, The Look Of Silence, and Rbg.
Most recently she has led marketing...
- 4/6/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Huda’s Salon
Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad heads into his eighth feature with Huda’s Salon, a based-on-a-true-story nightmare which was forced to halt production twice due to the pandemic. Scripted by Abu-Assad, he’s joined in the producer’s seat by Amira and Maher Diab, Shahinaz el Akkad, and Alaa Karkouti. Lensed by Ehab Assal (who shot Abu-Assad’s Omar and The Idol), Manal Awad stars as Huda, joined by the stellar Ali Suliman, Maisa Abd Elhadi, and Samer Bisharat. Abu-Assad’a major breakout was 2005’s Paradise Now, which competed in Berlin and won several prizes. 2013’s Omar played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes where it picked up a Special Jury Prize and his 2002 debut Rana’s Wedding was in Critics’ Week.…...
Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad heads into his eighth feature with Huda’s Salon, a based-on-a-true-story nightmare which was forced to halt production twice due to the pandemic. Scripted by Abu-Assad, he’s joined in the producer’s seat by Amira and Maher Diab, Shahinaz el Akkad, and Alaa Karkouti. Lensed by Ehab Assal (who shot Abu-Assad’s Omar and The Idol), Manal Awad stars as Huda, joined by the stellar Ali Suliman, Maisa Abd Elhadi, and Samer Bisharat. Abu-Assad’a major breakout was 2005’s Paradise Now, which competed in Berlin and won several prizes. 2013’s Omar played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes where it picked up a Special Jury Prize and his 2002 debut Rana’s Wedding was in Critics’ Week.…...
- 1/3/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Production has finally completed on “Huda’s Salon,” the new film from double Academy-Award nominated director Hany Abu-Assad. Production was halted twice this year because of regulations brought in to stop the spread of coronavirus. Variety spoke to the Palestinian director from his home in Nazareth after he gave a masterclass via Zoom at the Cairo Film Festival.
Written and directed by Abu-Assad, “Huda’s Salon” is based on real-life events telling the story of a woman whose visit to a hair salon turns into a nightmare when its owner blackmails her. Starring Manal Awad, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Ali Suliman, filming took place on location in Nazareth and Bethlehem.
H&a Production, the company run by Abu-Assad and his wife Amira Diab, are lead producing, alongside Egyptian producer and Cairo Film Festival head honcho Mohamed Hefzy at Film Clinic. Philistine Films came on board during the lockdown. Sales are...
Written and directed by Abu-Assad, “Huda’s Salon” is based on real-life events telling the story of a woman whose visit to a hair salon turns into a nightmare when its owner blackmails her. Starring Manal Awad, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Ali Suliman, filming took place on location in Nazareth and Bethlehem.
H&a Production, the company run by Abu-Assad and his wife Amira Diab, are lead producing, alongside Egyptian producer and Cairo Film Festival head honcho Mohamed Hefzy at Film Clinic. Philistine Films came on board during the lockdown. Sales are...
- 12/6/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Leading Arab producer Ossama Bawardi is in development with Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s fourth film, a period drama set in Palestine, with European and Arab characters, in what he describes as “a very competitive Arab market” for Arab films. Speaking to Variety at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, Bawardi spoke about his upcoming slate.
Jacir, who served on the Berlinale’s International Jury this year, has just finished the script for her next project. The plan is for it to qualify under the British-Palestinian co-production agreement. “We have begun reaching out to international partners, to those who want to be part of Annemarie’s new film, which she calls the project of her life,” Bawardi said.
Even with the global pandemic, and at times because of it, it’s been a busy year for Bawardi and Philistine Films, the company he runs alongside Jacir. The husband-and-wife team...
Jacir, who served on the Berlinale’s International Jury this year, has just finished the script for her next project. The plan is for it to qualify under the British-Palestinian co-production agreement. “We have begun reaching out to international partners, to those who want to be part of Annemarie’s new film, which she calls the project of her life,” Bawardi said.
Even with the global pandemic, and at times because of it, it’s been a busy year for Bawardi and Philistine Films, the company he runs alongside Jacir. The husband-and-wife team...
- 10/31/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Bookmark this page for all the latest international feature submissions.
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September).
In another change to the eligibility rules,...
Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.
The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September).
In another change to the eligibility rules,...
- 10/26/2020
- by Ben Dalton¬Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
“Gaza Mon Amour,” starring Hiam Abbass (“Succession”) and Salim Daw (“Fauda”), will serve as Palestine’s official entry in the International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, “Gaza Mon Amour” is represented in international markets by the Paris-based company Versatile Films and has been officially selected by Palestine’s Oscar committee.
Set in contemporary Gaza, the film revolves around Issa, a 60-year-old fisherman who is secretly in love with Siham, a woman who works at the market with her daughter Leila. When he mysteriously finds an ancient phallic statue of Apollo in his fishing nets, Issa feels that this discovery will change his life forever. As his confidence starts to grow, Issa decides to approach Siham.
“Gaza Mon Amour” world premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section, and went on to screen at Toronto, where it won the Netpac Award.
Directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, “Gaza Mon Amour” is represented in international markets by the Paris-based company Versatile Films and has been officially selected by Palestine’s Oscar committee.
Set in contemporary Gaza, the film revolves around Issa, a 60-year-old fisherman who is secretly in love with Siham, a woman who works at the market with her daughter Leila. When he mysteriously finds an ancient phallic statue of Apollo in his fishing nets, Issa feels that this discovery will change his life forever. As his confidence starts to grow, Issa decides to approach Siham.
“Gaza Mon Amour” world premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section, and went on to screen at Toronto, where it won the Netpac Award.
- 10/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Palestinian drama is led by ‘Jack Ryan’ and ‘Paradise Now’ star Ali Suliman.
Rome-based True Colours has secured international sales rights to Palestinian drama 200 Meters, which is set to receive its world premiere in competition at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori.
The feature has also secured distribution in the Middle East, where its release will be handled by Film Clinic Indie Film Distribution, the Egyptian firm run by producer and Cairo International Film Festival head Mohamed Hefzy.
200 Meters marks the feature debut of Palestinian writer-director Ameen Nayfeh, previously best known for his documentary shorts, and will play in the independent...
Rome-based True Colours has secured international sales rights to Palestinian drama 200 Meters, which is set to receive its world premiere in competition at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori.
The feature has also secured distribution in the Middle East, where its release will be handled by Film Clinic Indie Film Distribution, the Egyptian firm run by producer and Cairo International Film Festival head Mohamed Hefzy.
200 Meters marks the feature debut of Palestinian writer-director Ameen Nayfeh, previously best known for his documentary shorts, and will play in the independent...
- 8/6/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Palestinian drama is led by ‘Jack Ryan’ and ‘Paradise Now’ star Ali Suliman.
Rome-based True Colours has secured international sales rights to Palestinian drama 200 Meters, which is set to receive its world premiere in competition at Venice Days.
The feature has also secured distribution in the Middle East, where its release will be handled by Film Clinic Indie Film Distribution, the Egyptian firm run by producer and Cairo International Film Festival head Mohamed Hefzy.
200 Meters marks the feature debut of Palestinian writer-director Ameen Nayfeh, previously best known for his documentary shorts, and will play in the independent sidebar of the...
Rome-based True Colours has secured international sales rights to Palestinian drama 200 Meters, which is set to receive its world premiere in competition at Venice Days.
The feature has also secured distribution in the Middle East, where its release will be handled by Film Clinic Indie Film Distribution, the Egyptian firm run by producer and Cairo International Film Festival head Mohamed Hefzy.
200 Meters marks the feature debut of Palestinian writer-director Ameen Nayfeh, previously best known for his documentary shorts, and will play in the independent sidebar of the...
- 8/6/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Feature is lead produced by Israeli The Cakemaker producer Itai Tamir.
Paris-based Alpha Violet has acquired sales rights to Israeli director Roy Krispel’s debut feature Abu Omar, starring Palestinian actor Kais Nashif as a man attempting to smuggle the body of his dead son back into Palestine from Israel.
Nashif won best actor in Venice’s Horizons competition in 2018 for his performance in Sameh Zoabi’s Tel Aviv On Fire and is soon to be seen in Ben Sharrock’s Cannes 2020 selection Limbo. He originally broke out internationally in Hany Abu Assad’s 2005 Oscar-nominated drama Paradise Now.
In Abu Omar,...
Paris-based Alpha Violet has acquired sales rights to Israeli director Roy Krispel’s debut feature Abu Omar, starring Palestinian actor Kais Nashif as a man attempting to smuggle the body of his dead son back into Palestine from Israel.
Nashif won best actor in Venice’s Horizons competition in 2018 for his performance in Sameh Zoabi’s Tel Aviv On Fire and is soon to be seen in Ben Sharrock’s Cannes 2020 selection Limbo. He originally broke out internationally in Hany Abu Assad’s 2005 Oscar-nominated drama Paradise Now.
In Abu Omar,...
- 6/18/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
Twice Academy Award-nominated writer-director Hany Abu-Assad is teaming with Abbout Productions, Lebanon’s top indie shingle, on TV series project “The King’s Wives.”
The six-episode fiction, pitched Feb. 25 at the 2020 Berlinale Co-Pro Series, is set to be the first TV drama produced by Abbout, a Beirut-set production house run by Georges Schoucair, best known to date for films with a distinctly Arab voice.
Scheduled to shoot from fall 2021 in Morocco or Turkey, “The King’s Wives” is conceived as a multicultural project, with Palestinian-Dutch Abu-Assad as co-creator and showrunner, production by a Lebanese team, with a cast coming from all over the Arab world and international heads of departments.
A TV drama with humorous elements, set in a modern unnamed Arab monarchy, “The King’s Wives” follows Zein, a revolutionary princess who wants to challenge the monarchy and improve women’s rights.
She aligns with her progressive husband, Prince Malik,...
The six-episode fiction, pitched Feb. 25 at the 2020 Berlinale Co-Pro Series, is set to be the first TV drama produced by Abbout, a Beirut-set production house run by Georges Schoucair, best known to date for films with a distinctly Arab voice.
Scheduled to shoot from fall 2021 in Morocco or Turkey, “The King’s Wives” is conceived as a multicultural project, with Palestinian-Dutch Abu-Assad as co-creator and showrunner, production by a Lebanese team, with a cast coming from all over the Arab world and international heads of departments.
A TV drama with humorous elements, set in a modern unnamed Arab monarchy, “The King’s Wives” follows Zein, a revolutionary princess who wants to challenge the monarchy and improve women’s rights.
She aligns with her progressive husband, Prince Malik,...
- 2/25/2020
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
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