In a fresh breakthrough for Mohamed Khan's Factory Girl across film festivals worldwide, Arab Cinema in Sweden (ACIS), a distribution arm under the umbrella of Malmo Arab Film Festival, has announced the theatrical release of Factory Girl across Sweden on Friday, April 24th, 2015. Marking the film's first release beyond the Arab world, Factory Girl is part of the European Film Market (EFM) within 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Across Sweden where the largest Arabic-speaking community resides in Europe, Factory Girl will release in 12 screening venues including, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Norrkoping, Fajo, Umeå, Luleå, Lund and Hillsburg.

Produced by Mohamed Samir's DayDream Art Production, MAD Solution handled the distribution of Factory Girl in the Arab world, which also helms the Arab Cinema Center in its 1st edition at Berlinale as part of its long-term strategy to support and promote the Arab filmmaking industry in the Arab world.

Alaa Karkouti, CEO and Co-founder of MAD Solutions commented, "Factory Girl's theatrical release across Sweden is going to function as a new window on the Arab cinema for all film lovers in Sweden. He further added, "Our collaboration with the ACIS is an important step to us, as the screening of Factory Girl will highlight the artistic diversity and abundance of the Arab cinema. Since its inception, Malmo Arab Film Festival has been playing a crucial role in backing Arab filmmakers and this step marks a culmination of these long-standing efforts."

Expressing his eagerness to release the film in Sweden, Mr. Mouhamed Keblawi, General Manager of Arab Cinema in Sweden (ACIS), stated, "It is a great honor to present Factory Girl to the Swedish audience. We are proud to bring the film to Sweden in cooperation with MAD Solutions and DayDream Art Productions, both for the large Arabic population in Sweden as well as for the whole national cinema selection. Mohamed Khan is one of the Arab world's greatest directors whose films do not leave anyone indifferent, so neither Factory Girl. The story of the film and its topics are as urgent in Sweden as in Egypt - a romantic and at the same time serious depiction that shows how the society fights women who just want to assert their fundamental freedoms."

Starring Yasmin Raeis, Hany Adel, Salwa Khatab, Salwa Mohamed Ali, Ibtihal El Sereti and an array of new promising stars; the film is written by Wessam Suleiman. Factory Girl tells the story of Hiyam, a young factory worker, lives in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, along with her co-workers. She is clearly under the spell of Salah, the factory's new supervisor, who has expressed his admiration for her. She believes love can transcend the class differences between them. However, when a pregnancy test is discovered in the factory premises, her family and close friends accuse her of sinning. Hiyam decides not to defend herself and pays an enormous price in a society that fails to accept independent women.

Mohamed Khan's Factory Girl was Egypt's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 87th Academy Awards (Oscars). In 2013, the film had its world premiere at Dubai International Film Festival 2013 within the Muhr Arab Feature competition where the film received the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award for Arab Feature Competition, and the film's star Yasmin Raeis walked away with the Best Actress award in 2014. The film earned a Special Jury Prize from MED Film Festival in Italy, where it was screened at the opening gala of the festival. Concurrently, Factory Girl was a great success in Egyptian theaters, and carried on its flourishing commercial tour across 6 Arab countries, as well as Ramallah, Palestinian territories.

The film's star, Yasmin Raeis, reaped the Best Actress Award at Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, and its Screenwriter Wessam Soliman also received the Best Writing Award at the Sala Women Film Festival in Morocco.

Factory Girl ended 2014 with receiving multiple awards from international film festivals receiving 4 awards from the 18th Egyptian National Film Festival, which hosted an honorary screening for the film at the closing ceremony after competing in the festival's Feature-length Competition. The film swept the festival's major awards; Best Director award, Best Screen play and the Best Actress award.

Adding to its festival participations in a string of highly prestigious international film festivals, Factory Girl had its North American premiere at Montreal World Film Festival in Canada, and then was part of ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema Festival in New York. On November 9th, 2014, Factory Girl concluded the screenings of Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in Minnesota, USA, which was held under the patronage of Mizna.

The film was also screened as part of Shanghai International Film Festival and at the opening ceremony of the Arab Film Festival in Seoul, Korea. Also, the film has taken part in the 20th Kolkata Film Festival in India within Focus: Arabian Countries section, which showcased 7 films from the Arab world that achieved artistic triumphs at international film festivals.

Moreover, Mohamed Khan's Factory Girl was showcased at Safar: A Journey Through Popular Arab Cinema in London, which took place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). The film has also been part of the 34th African Film Festival of Verona in Italy within Panorama Africa competition, which encompassed 10 African feature-length films.

Following its screening at Franco Arab Film Festival in Jordon, Factory Girl was featured at Carthage Film Festival within Special Sessions section.

The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is the first Arab gathering of its kind across international film festivals, and functions as an international platform to promote Arab cinema and as a channel to provide access to Arab films and talents. Through its diverse activities, it will disseminate information internationally concerning film production in the Arab world, creating an opportunity for Arab filmmakers to explore and network with the international film industry professionals, production companies' representatives, distribution slates and the organizations investing in co-productions.

Berlin International Film Festival is regarded as an exciting, cosmopolitan cultural hub as it annually attracts 20,000 film professionals and media figures from all over the world. It is one of the biggest cinema platforms with more than 300,000 sold tickets from 400 films, taking part in each edition. In 2014, Berlinale attracted nearly 490,000 cinephiles and its EFM (5-13 February) is considered one of the most 3 important film markets in the world.

Factory Girl's screening times at the European Film Market:

Saturday, February 7 at 10:45 am at CineStar1