Five Films Distributed by MAD Solutions Compete in the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts

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KAROUMA|The Parrot | Submarine |Five Boys and A Wheel | Ayny

Five Films Distributed by MAD Solutions Compete in the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts


MAD Solutions will present five short films from among the films on its distribution list within the 19th Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts (19 - 25 April). The five MAD films are: Karouma by director Boubaker Boukhari, Submarine by Mounia Akl, Five Boys and A Wheel by Said Zagha, Ayny by Ahmed Saleh and The Parrot by directors Amjad Al Rasheed and Darin Sallam, who is a jury member at the festival.

Standing as one of the Arab world's major film festivals, the Ismailia International Festival is one of the first Arab festivals to be exclusively dedicated to documentaries and short films. The festival was first launched in 1988 under the jurisdiction of the National Cinema Center, to continue afterwards as one of three film festivals coordinated by Egypt's Ministry of Culture.

About Karouma:

In less than eight months, Algerian director BoubakerBoukhari's Emirati animation film Karouma toured more than 70 of the world's film festivals reaping awards including; the Best Animation Film Award at the New York International Short Film Festival, the Pennine Film Festival in the UK; the Comme Il Faut International Film Festival; the 4th Kraljevski Film Festival in Serbia; and the FILMMATIC Filmmaker Awards in USA; in addition to the Silver Remi Award at the 49th Annual International Independent Film Festival (Worldfest-Houston); an Animation Honorable Mention at the FARCUME International Festival of Short Film Faro in Portugal; and the Best International Expat Short award at the Korea International Expat Film Festival. The film is distributed by MAD Solutions.

About The Parrot:

The Parrot tells the story of a Mizrahi Jewish family, who emigrate from Morocco, trying to settle into their new life in Haifa, Palestine in 1948. The film stars Hend Sabry, Ashraf Barhoum, Yasmine Ben Amara, EyadHourani, FirasTaybeh, Lara Sawalha, and Ahmad Al-Madani, and is written by Amjad Al Rasheed, Darin Sallam, and Rifqi Assaf.

The Parrot is one of the film projects funded by the German Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, which funds the Best German-Arab film projects. The film that won the Best Short Film award earlier this year is co-produced by the German Foundation and Royal Film Commission-Jordan, and is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions. The film landed its world premiere at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) within the Muhr Short competition.

About Submarine:

Submarine's director Mounia Akl has won the Special Jury Prize in the Muhr Short competition at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Under the imminent threat of Lebanon's garbage crisis, Hala, a wild child inside of a woman is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.

Produced by Cyril Aris and JinaneChaaya, and distributed by MAD Solutions in the Arab world, Submarine stars Julian Farhat, Yumna Marwan, and Adel Chahine. Submarine was also awarded the James Bridges production grant.

About Ayny:

Based on true events, the Student Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Animation Ayny follows two young boys who run away from their mother's protection and slack line on the danger of war to play music with the instrument they always dreamt to own. The film is written, directed, edited and voiced by Ahmad Saleh, music by Nizar Rohana, animated by Frank Pingel, DOP Lionel Poutiaire Somé, produced by Stefan Gieren, and its Arab world distribution is handled by MAD Solutions. The film is a co-production between Germany, Jordan, and Palestine.

Ayny won a Golden Oscar at the Student Academy Awards and competed in the Muhr Short competition at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), Beirut Cinema Days, Sudan Independent Film Festival (SIFF) and Palestine Festival (Animate. Ps).

About Five Boys and A Wheel:

Based on American author Raymond Carver's short story 'Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes', the film is set in Jordan where a young father has to help his son out of a petty conflict with the neighbors. As the parents of each respective family are summoned to discuss the issue at hand, the discussions begin to quickly spin out of control, putting the values of the father to test.

The film received support from the Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC). Five Boys and A Wheel stars Ali Suliman, NadiraOmran, and HaydarKfoof, and is produced by Akram Al-Ashqar, Ahmad Khatiband director Said Zagha. MAD Solutions is handling the film's distribution across the Arab world.

Five Boys and A Wheel had its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) competing in the festival's Muhr Short Competition. The film made its North American premiere by taking part in the 40th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) last February. It also landed its European premiere at the Middle East Now Festival in Italy this month.