Alayan Brother's Film The Reports on Sarah and Saleem Receives the Production Funding of the World Cinema Fund

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After Receiving the Hubert Bals Fund

Alayan Brother's Film The Reports on Sarah and Saleem Receives the Production Funding of the World Cinema Fund


Director Muayad Alayan's new film project The Reports on Sarah and Saleem has received the Production Funding of the 26th Berlinale's World Cinema Fund (WCF), of 50.000 Euros. Written by Rami Alayan, The Reports on Sarah and Saleem is a joint production between PalCine Productions, KeyFilm, Manderley Films GmbH, and MAD Solutions that is also handling the distribution of the film through the Arab world.

Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director, producer and cinematographer based in Jerusalem. After completing his studies in San Francisco, Alayan returned to Palestine with the goal of making organic cinema by and about Palestinians as a community; a cinema made through the participation of people coming together to tell stories, against all odds and with means that creatively defy limitations. At the age of 22, Alayan tested his vision with his first narrative short, Lesh Sabreen?, which was made with the participation of youths and young adults in his home village, focusing on their experiences and concerns of youths living in Jerusalem under the occupation. The film premiered in a competition at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France in 2009 and went on to compete at several other prestigious festivals, such as Palm Springs Short Festival and Dubai Film Festival, in addition to over 60 other festivals in 25 countries worldwide. In 2016, Alayan took part in the Berlinale Talents platform.

Rami Alayan is a designer, filmmaker and producer based in San Francisco. He holds a professional certificate in feature film writing from the UCLA Extension School as well as a master's and two bachelor degrees in computer science and business management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Alayan's debut as a film director was in 2011, with his short film Private Sun. The film was selected in over 70 film festivals all around the world, including Palm Springs Shortfest, Montreal World Film Festival, Filckers Rhode Island Film Festival and DC Shorts. It won nine awards including five for Best Short Film.

Since its world premiere at Berlin International Film Festival, Alayan Brothers' feature debut Love, Theft and Other Entanglements has received wide acclaim at film festivals around the world. The film won Best Narrative award at the 19th Arab Film Festival (AFF) in San Francisco, USA. It also competed within the Official Competition Debut Film at the 26th Carthage Film Festival, and was selected for Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), where it was part of the Arabian Nights section which screens world renowned films with a distinctive Arab flavor. Alayan's film participated at Seattle International Film Festival in USA, Taipei Film Festival in Taiwan, Galway Film Flead in Ireland and Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada.