Arab Cinema Center Takes Part in the Berlinale for the 7th Year in a Row

Back to Press Releases

Arab Film Selections at the Berlin International Film Festival

Arab Cinema Center Takes Part in the Berlinale for the 7th Year in a Row


For the seventh consecutive year, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) will take part at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) (March 1 – 5) that will be held virtually this year. Under the umbrella of the Arab Cinema Center, nine partners that vary between film organizations, companies, and festivals will participate within the festival.

The ACC partners at the Berlinale this year include:(in alphabetical order): Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) (Egypt), El Gouna Film Festival (Egypt), Film Clinic (Egypt), Greener Screen (UAE) Lagoonie Film Production (Egypt), MAD Solutions (Egypt-UAE), Rotana Group (Saudi Arabia-Egypt), Telescope Film (USA), and The Royal Film Commission-Jordan (RFC) (Jordan).

This year’s edition of the Berlinale witnesses remarkable presence of Arab films, as seven of which will compete within the festival’s particolored sections. Furthermore, Egyptian artist Basim Magdy has been selected among the jurors of the short film competition.

The Arab films participating within the festival’s sections include Lebanese-French film Memory Box by directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (Competition), two Lebanese films Miguel’s War by director Eliane Raheb and Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living by director George Peter Barbari, as well as Souad by director Ayten Amin (Panorama), and Egyptian-Palestinian film As I Want by director Samaher Alqadi (Encounters).

Forum Expanded section will also include Egyptian film Seven Years Around the Nile Delta by Sharief Zohairy and Lebanese film All of Your Stars are But Dust on my Shoes by director Haig Aivazian.
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is a nonprofit organization registered in Amsterdam. The ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC's activities vary between film markets, stands, and pavilions, networking sessions and one-on-one meetings bringing together Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets. Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, and highlights from the ACC's partners and their projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate Arab filmmakers' access to international markets and help international film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions