Barakah Meets Barakah Screens in Tunisian Theaters with French Subtitles

Back to Press Releases

The First Theatrical Run for a Saudi Film in Tunisia

Barakah Meets Barakah Screens in Tunisian Theaters with French Subtitles


The Saudi cinema opens its first theatrical run in Tunisia with Mahmoud Sabbagh's film Barakah Meets Barakah that will be screened with French subtitles through MAD Solutions and Film Clinic-Indie Distribution (FCID). This move assists in reinforcing the connection between the film markets of the Arab world turning them into one big market that benefits from its large and diverse potential.

A special screening of Barakah Meets Barakah for the media is going to take place on Tuesday, the 7th of February and the film will start its theatrical release in Tunisian theaters on the next day, Wednesday, the 8th.

Barakah Meets Barakah has been released in the UAE and in Egypt's Cairo and Ismailia last November 2016, and it is set to be released in other Arab countries soon.

Barakah Meets Barakah has been screened in Tunisia through the 27th Carthage Film Festival (JCC), followed by a screening at the 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), where it received a Certificate of Appreciation at the Prospects of Arab Cinema (PAC) programme.

Barakah Meets Barakah is Saudi Arabia's official submission to the 2017 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The film has been chosen by the 60th BFI London Film Festival, run by the British Film Institute (BFI), to compete within the Laugh Gala. Moreover, the film has also been selected to compete in the Special Presentations section at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival following its world premiere at the 66th Berlinale where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in the Forum section.

Barakah Meets Barakah tells the story of two lovers who are united in an environment hostile to dating of any kind. He is Barakah, the municipal civil servant from Jeddah, who is also an amateur actor in a theatrical troupe. She is Barakah, a wild beauty, who functions as a crowd-puller for her stylish mother's boutique and runs her own widely-seen vlog. They both defy customs and traditions, as well as the religious police, using modern communication technologies and traditional dating methods.

MAD Solutions, alongside Film Clinic-Indie Distribution (FCID), has announced the acquisition of the Arab world distribution rights to the Saudi film through the French sales agency MPM Film.

Produced by El Housh Productions, Barakah Meets Barakah stars Hisham Fageeh, Fatima Al Banawi, Sami Hifny, Abdulmajeed Alruhaidi and Khairia Nazmi. The film is written and directed by Mahmoud Sabbagh. Born in Jeddah, Mahmoud Sabbagh is a Saudi director who studied Documentary Filmmaking in New York. He later worked as an independent film director and producer in Saudi Arabia. His repertoire includes the documentary The Story of Hamza Shahata (2013), TV series Cash (2014) and his feature debut film Barakah Meets Barakah.

Barakah Meets Barakah will screen in Tunisia starting Wednesday, February 8, 2017, at the following theaters: Cinéma Amilcar - El Manar, Ciné Madart - Carthage, Cinema ABC, Cinéma Théâtre Le Rio and Cinéma Le Parnasse.