Director & Actress Ahd Participates with Sanctity inBerlin International Film Festival 2013

First Saudi Film in Berlin

Director & Actress Ahd Participates with Sanctity inBerlin International Film Festival 2013

Sanctity by Saudi director & actress Ahd participates in the short film competition at Berlin InternationalFilm Festival which will start from 7 February till 17 February. Sanctity is the first Saudi film in the festival which is considered one of the world's leading film festivals and most prestigious media events.

Sanctity is written and directed by director and Saudi actress Ahd who will attend the screening of the film at Berlin. Shot on location in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sanctity is Ahd's second directorial effort.

Sanctity was awarded the Development Award at Doha Tribeca Film Festival, November-2012, in theArab Short Film Competition that included twelve films from across the Arab World.

The film is produced by BIZIBI and SILVERGRAY with the participation of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image Animée CNC. Mohamed Ottman stars opposite of Ahd in his first acting role in the film as well as veteran actor Mohamed Baker. The film tells the story of Areej, a young widow who tries to do her best to protect her unborn child.

Ahd's directorial debut was the short film The Shoemaker, which she wrote, produced and starred opposite of Egyptian actor Amr Waked. The film received numerous awards from Arab and international festivals including the Gulf Film Festival and Beirut Film Festival, as well as competing in theInternational Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand.

She was a member of the Emirates Film Competition jury in the 6th Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Ahd had her first acting role in Wadjda directed by Haifaa Al Mansour, The first feature film shot in Saudi Arabia, which was part of the Venice Film Festival in 2012.

Ahd is the first Saudi woman to study film acting and filmmaking in the USA, after which she worked on Hollywood films including The Kingdom with director Peter Berg in 2007. She acted in the Turkish filmRazn for which she won the Golden Gate Award for Best Actress at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the film also participated in Rotterdam Film Festival.