An Additional Panel Discussion for Mohammed Hammad's Film Withered Green at the Festival International Du Film Francophone De Namur

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On Huge Demand from the Audiences

An Additional Panel Discussion for Mohammed Hammad's Film Withered Green at the Festival International Du Film Francophone De Namur


Following the massive success of its second screening at the Festival International Du Film Francophone De Namur (FIFF) (Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film), director Mohammed Hammad's film Withered Green had an additional panel discussion in response to the audiences' demand. Held on Tuesday, 4th of October, the film screening took place at the Cinéma Eldorado and a panel discussion was held afterwards.

Withered Green is competing within the Compétition 1e Oeuvre De Fiction (Competition of Debut Feature Film) at the FIFF (23 September- 6 October), marking the only Egyptian film in competition at the festival since 1999.

During the panel discussion, Hammad said, "When I started thinking about producing this film independently, my dream was only to complete the filming and editing phases. Today, the film is taking part in the Compétition 1e Oeuvre De Fiction at the FIFF, and last month, the film participated at the prestigious Locarno International Film Festival. So, we are extremely happy and proud of what we have accomplished."

"I hope that I follow the footsteps of the late great filmmaker Youssef Chahine, who was honored at the same festival in 1994," added Hammad.

Withered Green's first screening at Namur has been held at the historic CinémaCaméo, which re-inaugurated this year after a five-year hiatus for renovation with a cost of three million Euros. Following the film's first screening, a panel discussion was held, but due to the limited time the attendees asked for another panel discussion, which was answered by an additional panel after the film's second screening.

Most recently, Withered Green has competed within the ConcorsoCineasti del Presente section at the 69thLocarno International Film Festival. Landing its world premiere, the film screening was attended by director/writer Hammad alongside producer/ DOP Mohammed El Sharqawy, producer Kholoud Saad and co-producer Mohamed Hefzy. After an impressive full-house three screenings, the film has pulled in a fourth exceptional screening on the audience's' demand. Withered Green marked the first Egyptian participation at the ConcorsoCineasti del Presente section within Locarno.

The last Egyptian film participation at the FIFF was director Radwan El Kashef's film Arak El Balah(Date Wine) in 1999, which received two awards for the film's director, El Kashef, and star Mohamed Nagaty.

Withered Green tells the story of young Iman, a conservative religious person, who takes people's opinions of her into account and shows uptight restriction to all the withering social traditions. However, a shocking discovery prompts her to do away with all these withered traditions that she once clung to.

Written and directed by Mohammed Hammad, Withered Green is produced by Hammad, Kholoud Saad and Mohammed El Sharqawy in collaboration with producer Mohamed Hefzy (Film Clinic). MAD Solutions alongside Film Clinic-Indie Film Distribution (FCIFD) are handling the film distribution worldwide.

Mohammed Hammad is an Egyptian director with a number of short films in his repertoire. He wrote, produced, and directed the short film Central (2008). In 2010, he produced and directed the short film Pale Red, which took part in many international festivals, receiving several awards. Withered Green is Hammad's debut feature film.

The Festival International Du Film Francophone De Namur(FIFF) has been founded in 1986 as theFestival Cinématographique De Wallonie (Film Festival of Wallonia). FIFF is recognized as one of the most popular and appreciated festivals of French cinema. The festival gathers representatives of the French-speaking countries and aims at creating a place of learning, sharing, and understanding.