11 Films by MAD Solutions in a Film Event at the Cairo International Book Fair

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Between Two Seas | I Have A Picture | Oscars Shorts | Stars in Shorts

11 Films by MAD Solutions in a Film Event at the Cairo International Book Fair


In collaboration with the Egyptian Film Center, Alexandria Short Film Festival, and General Organization of Culture Places, 11 films distributed by MAD Solutions will take part in the artistic and cultural events during the 51st Cairo International Book Fair.

These films are, Between Two Seas by Anas Tolba, which will screen on Monday, 28th of January at 4 PM, and I Have A Picture by Mohamed Zedan that will screen with the presence of its director on Thursday 23rd of January at 2 PM.

Also, Oscars Shorts Programme will be screened on Tuesday, 28th January at 2 PM. The programme includes five short films; AVE MARIA by director Basil Khalil, Ayny by director Ahmed Saleh, Nocturne in Black by director Jimmy Keyrouz, The Rifle, The Jackal, The Wolf, and The Boy by director Oualid Mouaness, and Bahiya & Mahmoud by director Zaid Abu Hamdan
The Stars in Shorts Programme will as well be screened on Monday, 3rd of February at 2 PM. It includes four Arab short films; The Parrot by Darin J. Sallam and Amjad Al-Rasheed, Submarine by Mounia Akl, Five Boys and A Wheel by Said Zagha and Kindil El Bahr by Damien Ounouri. The films are headlined by Tunisian superstar Hend Sabry, Palestinian stars Ashraf Barhoum and Ali Soliman, Lebanese stars Julian Farhat and Yumna Marwan, and Algerian star Adila Bendimerad. The four short films received a number of awards during their participation at prestigious festivals around the world

About Between Two Seas:
While on a short visit to her home village, a small rural island near Cairo, Zahra's daughter is exposed to a tragic accident. Following this incident, Zahra persists on getting her daughter's right and insists on not only continuing her education but also benefiting her community. The film sheds light on different societal issues faced by women, especially in rural areas.

Directed by Anas Tolba and written by Mariam Naoum, based on a script by Amany El Tounsy and Karim El Dalil, Between Two Seas stars Fatma Adel, Yara Goubran, Tharaa Goubail, Mahmoud Fares, Arfa Abdel Rassoul, and Lobna Wanas. The film is produced by Axeer, and executive produced by Abdelrahman Al Garwani. MAD Solutions handles the film's marketing and distribution in the Arab world.

About I Have A Picture
With the help of Kamal El Homossany, one of the oldest assistant directors in Egypt, Zedan, a young indie filmmaker, is making a documentary about Motawe Eweis, who has worked as an extra in about 1000 Egyptian films since the 1940s.
Directed and written by Mohamed Zedan, I Have A Picture stars Kamal EL-Homossany, Motawe Eweis. The film crew includes DOP Mohamad EL-Hadidi and Music Composer Micheal Fawzy. MAD Solutions distribute the film in the Arab world.

Oscars Shorts:

About AVE MARIA
AVE MARIA is a 14-minute comedy that tells the story of an order of Palestinian nuns living in the middle of the West Bank wilderness. Their daily routine of silence and prayer is disrupted when a family of Israeli settlers breaks down right outside their convent, just as the Sabbath is beginning. The family need to get home but can't operate the phone, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2016 and was released in over 400 screens in US theatres as a part of the Oscars nominated films of 2016. The film gathered more than 25 awards from more than 130 world festivals.

About Ayny:
Based on true events, Ayny follows two young boys who run away from their mother's protection and slack line on the danger of war to play music with the instrument they always dreamt to own. The film received the Gold Medal for the Best Foreign Animation in 2016 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in Los Angeles, in addition to other 15 awards from world festivals.

About Nocturne in Black:
The film is inspired by an article about a Syrian young man who continues to play his piano under threat of persecution in the midst of his country's civil war and struggles to rebuild his piano after it is destroyed by terrorists. The film received the Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards and shortlisted for the 2017 10 Live-Action Shorts.

About The Rifle, The Jackal, The Wolf, and The Boy
Set in a mountain village in Lebanon, two brothers use their dad's rifle behind his back, unaware of the dire consequences of their action. The film was shortlisted for the 89th Academy Awards' Best Live-Action Short Film in 2017. The film toured more than 20 international film festival.

About Baheya & Mahmoud
The film tells the story of an aging married couple, Mahmoud and Baheya, who have fallen into a monotonous lifestyle of bickering and making one another miserable. However, this changes one day when Mahmoud wakes up to find his wife Baheya gone. The film was the official Jordanian submission to the Academy Awards.

The Stars in Shorts:

About The Parrot:
Directed by Darin J. Sallam and Amjad Al-Rasheed, the film stars Hend Sabry, Ashraf Barhoum, Yasmine Ben Amara, Eyad Hourani, Firas Taybeh, Lara Sawalha, and Ahmad Al-Madani, and written by Darin J. Sallam, Amjad Al-Rasheed and Rifqi Assaf. The Parrot tells the story of the Mizrahi Jewish family, who emigrate from Morocco, trying to settle into their new life in Haifa, Palestine in 1948.


About Submarine:
Directed by Mounia Akl, Submarine stars Julian Farhat, Yumna Marwan, and Adel Chahine. Under the imminent threat of Lebanon's garbage crisis, Hala, a wild child inside of a woman is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.

About Five Boys and A Wheel
Directed by Said Zagha, Five Boys and A Wheel stars Ali Suliman, Nadira Omran and Haydar Kfoof. The film is based on American author Raymond Carver's short story 'Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes'. Set in Jordan, a young father has to help his son out of a petty conflict with the neighbors. As the parents of each respective family are summoned to discuss the issue at hand, the discussions begin to quickly spin out of control, putting the values of the father to test.

About Kindil El Bahr
Kindil El Bahr is directed by Damien Ounouri, who also co-wrote the film with the film's star Adila Bendimerad. Alongside Bendimerad, the film stars Nabil Asli, Aziz Boukerouni, and Souad Sebki. Dealing with violence against women, Kindil El Bahr follows, Nfissa, a young mother who during a beach daytrip with her family is drowned by a group of young men while swimming offshore. Nobody seems to witness her disappearing. Anxiety and fear grow among the family, especially as, on the same beach, bathers mysteriously start to die.