Only the seventh time Palestine has submitted film to the Academy Awards.
The Palestinian Ministry of Culture has submitted Najwa Najjar’s Eyes of a Thief for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards.
The timely drama explores the impact of the Middle East conflict on Palestinian life through the tale of a West Bank man searching for his lost daughter following his release from an Israeli jail.
Egyptian actor Khaled Abol Naga, whose credits include Villa 69 and Microphone, plays the protagonist Tareq – an enigmatic figure with a violent past – opposite Algerian actress and singer Souad Massi, as a woman who knows the whereabouts of his child.
The film has drawn strong audiences in the West Bank and Jerusalem since its release there at the beginning of September.
“We had quite an overwhelming opening on September 9 at the Ramallah Cultural Palace. 850 people came to a space meant for 700,” Najjar told ScreenDaily...
The Palestinian Ministry of Culture has submitted Najwa Najjar’s Eyes of a Thief for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards.
The timely drama explores the impact of the Middle East conflict on Palestinian life through the tale of a West Bank man searching for his lost daughter following his release from an Israeli jail.
Egyptian actor Khaled Abol Naga, whose credits include Villa 69 and Microphone, plays the protagonist Tareq – an enigmatic figure with a violent past – opposite Algerian actress and singer Souad Massi, as a woman who knows the whereabouts of his child.
The film has drawn strong audiences in the West Bank and Jerusalem since its release there at the beginning of September.
“We had quite an overwhelming opening on September 9 at the Ramallah Cultural Palace. 850 people came to a space meant for 700,” Najjar told ScreenDaily...
- 9/25/2014
- ScreenDaily
Algerian singer Souad Massi and Egyptian Khaled Abol Naga co-star in film shot in West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar has finished her timely drama Eyes Of A Thief exploring the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian life through the tale of a man searching for his lost daughter after his release from an Israeli jail.
Inspired by a real-life event that took place in 2002, at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada and the Israeli incursion into the West Bank, the film moves back and forth between that period and contemporary Palestine.
It revolves around Tareq, an enigmatic figure harbouring a dark, violent secret returning to his hometown after serving 10 years in an Israeli jail.
He is desperate to find his daughter who disappeared during his absence. His search leads him to a young woman called Lila and also brings him up against the town’s self-imposed leader Adel, a man of...
Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar has finished her timely drama Eyes Of A Thief exploring the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian life through the tale of a man searching for his lost daughter after his release from an Israeli jail.
Inspired by a real-life event that took place in 2002, at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada and the Israeli incursion into the West Bank, the film moves back and forth between that period and contemporary Palestine.
It revolves around Tareq, an enigmatic figure harbouring a dark, violent secret returning to his hometown after serving 10 years in an Israeli jail.
He is desperate to find his daughter who disappeared during his absence. His search leads him to a young woman called Lila and also brings him up against the town’s self-imposed leader Adel, a man of...
- 8/4/2014
- ScreenDaily
Algerian singer Souad Massi and Egyptian Khaled Abol Naga co-star in film shot in West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar has finished her timely drama Eyes Of A Thief exploring the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian life through the tale of a man searching for his lost daughter after his release from an Israeli jail.
Inspired by a real-life event that took place in 2002, at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada and the Israeli incursion into the West Bank, the film moves back and forth between that period and contemporary Palestine.
It revolves around Tareq, an enigmatic figure harbouring a dark, violent secret returning to his hometown after serving 10 years in an Israeli jail.
He is desperate to find his daughter who disappeared during his absence. His search leads him to a young woman called Lila and also brings him up against the town’s self-imposed leader Adel, a man of...
Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar has finished her timely drama Eyes Of A Thief exploring the impact of Israeli occupation on Palestinian life through the tale of a man searching for his lost daughter after his release from an Israeli jail.
Inspired by a real-life event that took place in 2002, at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada and the Israeli incursion into the West Bank, the film moves back and forth between that period and contemporary Palestine.
It revolves around Tareq, an enigmatic figure harbouring a dark, violent secret returning to his hometown after serving 10 years in an Israeli jail.
He is desperate to find his daughter who disappeared during his absence. His search leads him to a young woman called Lila and also brings him up against the town’s self-imposed leader Adel, a man of...
- 8/4/2014
- ScreenDaily
Egypt’s Ismailia International Film Festival has announced plans for the second edition of projects market, Ismailia Co-production Platform, to take place from June 3-8.
The festival, which focuses on documentaries and short films, launched the first edition of the projects market last year. Filmmakers from all over the world with feature-length documentary projects with an Arab connection (director, producer, co-producer, main talent, location or subject matter) are encouraged to apply.
Headed by festival director Mohamed Hefzy, with the director of Egypt’s National Cinema Centre (Ncc) Kamal Abdel Aziz as president, the Ismailia fest is being repositioned as a key incubator for new Arab filmmaking talent.
Hefzy is a producer and scriptwriter whose Cairo-based production company Film Clinic has credits including Ayten Amin’s Villa 69 and Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters.
The Ismailia fest was launched by the Ncc in 1988 and is currently one of three film festivals coordinated by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture...
The festival, which focuses on documentaries and short films, launched the first edition of the projects market last year. Filmmakers from all over the world with feature-length documentary projects with an Arab connection (director, producer, co-producer, main talent, location or subject matter) are encouraged to apply.
Headed by festival director Mohamed Hefzy, with the director of Egypt’s National Cinema Centre (Ncc) Kamal Abdel Aziz as president, the Ismailia fest is being repositioned as a key incubator for new Arab filmmaking talent.
Hefzy is a producer and scriptwriter whose Cairo-based production company Film Clinic has credits including Ayten Amin’s Villa 69 and Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters.
The Ismailia fest was launched by the Ncc in 1988 and is currently one of three film festivals coordinated by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture...
- 2/3/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Egyptian filmmaker Wael Omar is developing a sequel to his documentary, In Search Of Oil And Sand, which captured the lives of Egypt’s elite at the moment of Gamel Abdel Nasser’s coup d’état in 1952, entitled Madness At Noon.
The sequel will follow the fate of the elite after Nasser’s rise to power, through an international incident in which the leader ordered the arrest of France’s entire diplomatic Corp on spying charges alongside members of the Egyptian elite who had remained in the country.
“It captures the moment that the coup d’état transforms into a revolution – and the witch hunt against the vestiges of the old regime really begins,” said Omar, who produces under the Middle West Films (Mwf) banner.
In Search Of Oil And Sand, which premiered in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival last year, is due to air on channels affiliated to Us public broadcaster PBS early next year and...
The sequel will follow the fate of the elite after Nasser’s rise to power, through an international incident in which the leader ordered the arrest of France’s entire diplomatic Corp on spying charges alongside members of the Egyptian elite who had remained in the country.
“It captures the moment that the coup d’état transforms into a revolution – and the witch hunt against the vestiges of the old regime really begins,” said Omar, who produces under the Middle West Films (Mwf) banner.
In Search Of Oil And Sand, which premiered in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival last year, is due to air on channels affiliated to Us public broadcaster PBS early next year and...
- 12/13/2013
- ScreenDaily
Egyptian filmmaker Wael Omar is developing a sequel to his documentary, In Search Of Oil And Sand, which captured the lives of Egypt’s elite at the moment of Gamel Abdel Nasser’s coup d’état in 1952, entitled Madness At Noon.
The sequel will follow the fate of the elite after Nasser’s rise to power, through an international incident in which the leader ordered the arrest of France’s entire diplomatic Corp on spying charges alongside members of the Egyptian elite who had remained in the country.
“It captures the moment that the coup d’état transforms into a revolution – and the witch hunt against the vestiges of the old regime really begins,” said Omar, who produces under the Middle West Films (Mwf) banner.
In Search Of Oil And Sand, which premiered in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival last year, is due to air on channels affiliated to Us public broadcaster PBS early next year and...
The sequel will follow the fate of the elite after Nasser’s rise to power, through an international incident in which the leader ordered the arrest of France’s entire diplomatic Corp on spying charges alongside members of the Egyptian elite who had remained in the country.
“It captures the moment that the coup d’état transforms into a revolution – and the witch hunt against the vestiges of the old regime really begins,” said Omar, who produces under the Middle West Films (Mwf) banner.
In Search Of Oil And Sand, which premiered in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival last year, is due to air on channels affiliated to Us public broadcaster PBS early next year and...
- 12/13/2013
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cairo-based New Century Production is putting together an ambitious six-picture slate featuring some of Egypt’s leading veteran and independent filmmakers, including the next project from Rags And Tatters director Ahmad Abdalla.
Entitled Décor, the project is scripted by renowned Egyptian screenwriter Mohamed Diab, who previously wrote and directed award-winning sexual harassment drama 678. Khaled Abol Naga (Microphone, Villa 69) and Egyptian actress Horreya Farghaly will head the cast.
Scheduled to start shooting in the next few weeks, Décor marks the first big-budget production from Abdalla who has won acclaim for independent productions such as Heliopolis, Microphone and current Egyptian box office hit Rags And Tatters.
Abdalla plans to shoot Decor in black-and-white – the first time the format has been used in Egyptian cinema since Mohamed Fadel’s Nasser 56, about the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, in 1996.
New Century will also produce Abnormal Decisions – written and to be directed by veteran Egyptian filmmaker Daoud Abdel Sayed, whose...
Entitled Décor, the project is scripted by renowned Egyptian screenwriter Mohamed Diab, who previously wrote and directed award-winning sexual harassment drama 678. Khaled Abol Naga (Microphone, Villa 69) and Egyptian actress Horreya Farghaly will head the cast.
Scheduled to start shooting in the next few weeks, Décor marks the first big-budget production from Abdalla who has won acclaim for independent productions such as Heliopolis, Microphone and current Egyptian box office hit Rags And Tatters.
Abdalla plans to shoot Decor in black-and-white – the first time the format has been used in Egyptian cinema since Mohamed Fadel’s Nasser 56, about the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, in 1996.
New Century will also produce Abnormal Decisions – written and to be directed by veteran Egyptian filmmaker Daoud Abdel Sayed, whose...
- 12/10/2013
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Cairo-based Mad Solutions is presenting a slate of ten high-profile Arabic-language pictures at this year’s Dubai Film Market (Dfm).
Mad will handle regional and international distribution, as well as serve as marketing consultant, on the ten-picture slate, which includes Diff Muhr Arab feature competition titles Factory Girl, directed by Mohamed Khan, and The Mice Room, a feature directed by six Egyptian directors.
The slate also includes three other Diff Muhr Arab competition titles: Mais Darwazah’s creative doc My Love Awaits Me By The Sea; Emirati filmmaker Ali Mostafa’s short film Don’t Judge A Subject By Its Photograph, and Lebanese filmmaker Tobufic Khreish’s short Troubled Waters.
Mad is also handling Ayten Amin’s Villa 69, which recently won a special jury prize at Abu Dhabi Film Festival; Hany Fawzy’s gay-themed drama Family Secrets; and Hala Lotfy’s award-winning narrative feature Coming Forth By Day.
Rounding out the slate are documentary In Search Of Oil And Sand, co-directed...
Mad will handle regional and international distribution, as well as serve as marketing consultant, on the ten-picture slate, which includes Diff Muhr Arab feature competition titles Factory Girl, directed by Mohamed Khan, and The Mice Room, a feature directed by six Egyptian directors.
The slate also includes three other Diff Muhr Arab competition titles: Mais Darwazah’s creative doc My Love Awaits Me By The Sea; Emirati filmmaker Ali Mostafa’s short film Don’t Judge A Subject By Its Photograph, and Lebanese filmmaker Tobufic Khreish’s short Troubled Waters.
Mad is also handling Ayten Amin’s Villa 69, which recently won a special jury prize at Abu Dhabi Film Festival; Hany Fawzy’s gay-themed drama Family Secrets; and Hala Lotfy’s award-winning narrative feature Coming Forth By Day.
Rounding out the slate are documentary In Search Of Oil And Sand, co-directed...
- 12/8/2013
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, the legendary Egyptian actor who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at last year’s Diff, will headline an adaptation of Two Rooms And A Parlour, a new high-profile addition to the production slate of Arab talent hothouse Film Clinic.
Based on Hugratan wa Salah, the 2010 novel by revered Egyptian writer Ibrahim Aslan, the project is one of nine being presented here at Interchange, the development and co-production workshop that unites Diff with Eave and Torino FilmLab.
Abdel Aziz will play the central character of Khalil, a reclusive retiree who is forced to confront his life choices after the death of his wife. Realising that he has never left Cairo, Khalil makes it his mission to see another country before he dies, and in the process begins to interact with neighbours he has spent his life trying to avoid.
Scheduled to start shooting in the second half of 2014, Two Rooms And A Parlour...
Based on Hugratan wa Salah, the 2010 novel by revered Egyptian writer Ibrahim Aslan, the project is one of nine being presented here at Interchange, the development and co-production workshop that unites Diff with Eave and Torino FilmLab.
Abdel Aziz will play the central character of Khalil, a reclusive retiree who is forced to confront his life choices after the death of his wife. Realising that he has never left Cairo, Khalil makes it his mission to see another country before he dies, and in the process begins to interact with neighbours he has spent his life trying to avoid.
Scheduled to start shooting in the second half of 2014, Two Rooms And A Parlour...
- 12/7/2013
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, the legendary Egyptian actor who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at last year’s Diff, will headline an adaptation of Two Rooms And A Parlour, a new high-profile addition to the production slate of Arab talent hothouse Film Clinic.
Based on Hugratan wa Salah, the 2010 novel by revered Egyptian writer Ibrahim Aslan, the project is one of nine being presented here at Interchange, the development and co-production workshop that unites Diff with Eave and Torino FilmLab.
Abdel Aziz will play the central character of Khalil, a reclusive retiree who is forced to confront his life choices after the death of his wife. Realising that he has never left Cairo, Khalil makes it his mission to see another country before he dies, and in the process begins to interact with neighbours he has spent his life trying to avoid.
Scheduled to start shooting in the second half of 2014, Two Rooms And A Parlour...
Based on Hugratan wa Salah, the 2010 novel by revered Egyptian writer Ibrahim Aslan, the project is one of nine being presented here at Interchange, the development and co-production workshop that unites Diff with Eave and Torino FilmLab.
Abdel Aziz will play the central character of Khalil, a reclusive retiree who is forced to confront his life choices after the death of his wife. Realising that he has never left Cairo, Khalil makes it his mission to see another country before he dies, and in the process begins to interact with neighbours he has spent his life trying to avoid.
Scheduled to start shooting in the second half of 2014, Two Rooms And A Parlour...
- 12/7/2013
- ScreenDaily
Actor prizes go to Dame Judi Dench and Jesse Eisenberg; Enough Said, starring the late James Gandolfini, wins audience award.Scroll down for full list of winners
The 7th Abu Dhabi Film Festival handed out its Black Pearl awards at a closing ceremony tonight (Oct 31), including cash prizes amounting to around $700,000.
The Black Pearl for Narrative Feature, worth $100,000, went to A Touch of Sin (Tian zhu ding) directed by Jia Zhangke.
The film, which played in competition at Cannes where it won the best screenplay award, revolves around four threads set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China and features random acts of violence.
The Narrative jury, presided over by two-time Oscar nominated actress Jacki Weaver, gave the special jury award ($50,000) to Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land, centred on a law man in a small town on the border of Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
In addition, Dame Judi Dench won best...
The 7th Abu Dhabi Film Festival handed out its Black Pearl awards at a closing ceremony tonight (Oct 31), including cash prizes amounting to around $700,000.
The Black Pearl for Narrative Feature, worth $100,000, went to A Touch of Sin (Tian zhu ding) directed by Jia Zhangke.
The film, which played in competition at Cannes where it won the best screenplay award, revolves around four threads set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China and features random acts of violence.
The Narrative jury, presided over by two-time Oscar nominated actress Jacki Weaver, gave the special jury award ($50,000) to Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land, centred on a law man in a small town on the border of Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
In addition, Dame Judi Dench won best...
- 10/31/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Fund awards a total of $500,00 each year to Arab filmmakers.
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s Sanad Fund has announced the 9 new projects receiving its second round of 2013 grants.
These 8 projects were selected from 93 applications.
Sanad awards $500,000 per year to Arab filmmakers for development or post production.
The awards confirmed today are:
Post-Production - Narrative
Villa 69 (Egypt, United Arab Emirates), directed by Ayten Amin
Post-Production - Documentary
Iraqi Odyssey (Iraq, Switzerland, Germany, United Arab Emirates), directed by Samir
Development - Narrative
Daoud’s Winter (Iraq, Netherlands), directed by Koutaiba Al Janabi
God Protect My Daughter (Tunisia, France), directed by Leyla Bouzid
Development - Documentary
Little (Egypt), directed by Nagham Osman
A Place Under the Sun (Morocco, France, Germany), directed by Karim Aitouna
Waiting Bench (Sudan, France), directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari Mustafa
Sounds of the Sea (United Arab Emirates), directed by Nujoom Al Ghanem
Ghost Hunting (Palestine, France), directed by Raed Andoni
Villa 69 [pictured] will have its...
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s Sanad Fund has announced the 9 new projects receiving its second round of 2013 grants.
These 8 projects were selected from 93 applications.
Sanad awards $500,000 per year to Arab filmmakers for development or post production.
The awards confirmed today are:
Post-Production - Narrative
Villa 69 (Egypt, United Arab Emirates), directed by Ayten Amin
Post-Production - Documentary
Iraqi Odyssey (Iraq, Switzerland, Germany, United Arab Emirates), directed by Samir
Development - Narrative
Daoud’s Winter (Iraq, Netherlands), directed by Koutaiba Al Janabi
God Protect My Daughter (Tunisia, France), directed by Leyla Bouzid
Development - Documentary
Little (Egypt), directed by Nagham Osman
A Place Under the Sun (Morocco, France, Germany), directed by Karim Aitouna
Waiting Bench (Sudan, France), directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari Mustafa
Sounds of the Sea (United Arab Emirates), directed by Nujoom Al Ghanem
Ghost Hunting (Palestine, France), directed by Raed Andoni
Villa 69 [pictured] will have its...
- 10/22/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The full line up has been unveiled for the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
Daniel Schechter’s Life Of Crime will open the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, which runs Oct 24- Nov 2.
13 Arab feature films (seven of which are world premieres) will compete across different sections of the festival, including Rani Massalha’s Giraffada and Nejib Belkhadi’s Bastardo in the New Horizons Competition, Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters and Hicham Ayouch’s Fevers in the Narrative Feature Competition, and Sherief Elkatsha’s Cairo Drive and Mohammad Soueid’s The Boy From Aleppo in the Documentary Feature Competition.
Tobe Hooper’s UAE horror Djin will screen in the festival’s Showcase section.
Films competing in the Narrative Feature Competition include Jun Robles Lana’s Barber’s Tales, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Danis Tanovic’s An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker, Jasmila Zbanic’s [link...
Daniel Schechter’s Life Of Crime will open the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, which runs Oct 24- Nov 2.
13 Arab feature films (seven of which are world premieres) will compete across different sections of the festival, including Rani Massalha’s Giraffada and Nejib Belkhadi’s Bastardo in the New Horizons Competition, Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters and Hicham Ayouch’s Fevers in the Narrative Feature Competition, and Sherief Elkatsha’s Cairo Drive and Mohammad Soueid’s The Boy From Aleppo in the Documentary Feature Competition.
Tobe Hooper’s UAE horror Djin will screen in the festival’s Showcase section.
Films competing in the Narrative Feature Competition include Jun Robles Lana’s Barber’s Tales, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Danis Tanovic’s An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker, Jasmila Zbanic’s [link...
- 10/1/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
The full line up has been unveiled for the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
Daniel Schechter’s Life Of Crime will open the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, which runs Oct 24- Nov 2.
13 Arab feature films (seven of which are world premieres) will compete across different sections of the festival, including Rani Massalha’s Giraffada and Nejib Belkhadi’s Bastardo in the New Horizons Competition, Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters and Hicham Ayouch’s Fevers in the Narrative Feature Competition, and Sherief Elkatsha’s Cairo Drive and Mohammad Soueid’s The Boy From Aleppo in the Documentary Feature Competition.
Tobe Hooper’s UAE horror Djin will screen in the festival’s Showcase section.
Films competing in the Narrative Feature Competition include Jun Robles Lana’s Barber’s Tales, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Danis Tanovic’s An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker, Jasmila Zbanic’s [link...
Daniel Schechter’s Life Of Crime will open the 7th edition of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, which runs Oct 24- Nov 2.
13 Arab feature films (seven of which are world premieres) will compete across different sections of the festival, including Rani Massalha’s Giraffada and Nejib Belkhadi’s Bastardo in the New Horizons Competition, Ahmed Abdallah’s Rags And Tatters and Hicham Ayouch’s Fevers in the Narrative Feature Competition, and Sherief Elkatsha’s Cairo Drive and Mohammad Soueid’s The Boy From Aleppo in the Documentary Feature Competition.
Tobe Hooper’s UAE horror Djin will screen in the festival’s Showcase section.
Films competing in the Narrative Feature Competition include Jun Robles Lana’s Barber’s Tales, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, Danis Tanovic’s An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker, Jasmila Zbanic’s [link...
- 10/1/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
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