Four Films Distributed by MAD Solutions at the 1st Jounieh International Film Festival (JIFF)

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Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim - Kiss Me Not - The Parrot - Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc

Four Films Distributed by MAD Solutions at the 1st Jounieh International Film Festival (JIFF)


Four films distributed by MAD Solutions are going to be screened at the 1st Jounieh International Film Festival (JIFF) (January 17- 22, 2018) in Lebanon. The feature films Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim by Sherif El Bendary and Kiss Me Not by Ahmed Amer, along with the documentary Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc by Iman Kamel are going to compete in the Official Competition, while the short film The Parrot by directors Darin J. Sallam and Amjad Al Rasheed is going to screen Out of Competition.

The Jounieh International Film Festival (JIFF) is an international event conceived to promote cinema's culture among the population by proposing a selection of feature films; narratives and documentaries, to be showcased during the festival. JIFF came in this particular period of time to emphasis on the cultural side of Jounieh and its region, helping it to rise and reposition on the cultural scene of the country.

About Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim

The film follows a strange love story of a young man living in a rough neighborhood. He travels across Egypt on the recommendation of a psychic along with Ibrahim who is almost driven mad by the voices he hears in his head. Their journey turns into a voyage of friendship and self-discovery.

Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim's world premiere was held at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), where it competed within the Muhr Feature competition and its lead actor Ali Sobhi received the Best Actor Award for his role in the film. The film won the Best Feature Film award at the 7th Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden and received three awards during its participation in the Final Cut Workshop at the Venice International Film Festival.

The film stars Ali Sobhi, Ahmed Magdy, Salwa Mohamed Aly and Nahed El Sebai. Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim is written by Ahmed Amer, based on Ibrahim El Batout's story, directed by Sherif El Bendary and produced by Mohamed Hefzy's Film Clinic, Transit Films of Hossam Elouan,and the French film production company Arizona Productions led by Guillaume de Seille, along with Daniel Ziskind as Associate Producer.

About Kiss Me Not

Kiss Me Not follows a young and ambitious Egyptian director who faces issues while shooting a kissing scene in his new film with the leading actress Fajr who decides to pursue a more religious path.
The film made its world premiere at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). Kiss Me Not stars Yasmin Raeis, Mohamed Mahran, Salwa Mohamed Ali and Aida Riad with guest stars actress Sawsan Badr, late director Mohamed Khan and director Khairy Beshara. The film is written and directed by Ahmed Amer and produced by Middlewest Films, WIKA for Film Production and Distribution and MAD Solutions.

About Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc

The documentary film Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc tells the true stories of resistance by Egyptian women since the outbreak of the revolution in 2011 through mythic story elements, poetic narration and dance. The film is directed by Iman Kamel, and co-produced by Nomad's Home Production (Iman Kamel) and Linked Productions (Talal Al-Muhanna). The film marks Iman's second collaboration with Kuwaiti producer Talal Al-Muhanna.

Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc was nominated for the 2013 Arab-German Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation in Germany. The film was presented at pitching and co-production forums such as Africa Produce (Spain), and Amiens Screenplay Development Fund (France). The film made its world premiereat the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)in its Muhr Feature competition. The Culturist selected the film as one of the 30 Must Watch films at the 2016 edition of DIFF. Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc competedfor the Best Film Award in the 6 Plaza competition, which screens films from developing countries, at the Eurasia International Film Festival held in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

About The Parrot
The film tells the story of a Mizrahi Jewish family, who emigrate from Morocco, trying to settle into their new life in Haifa, Palestine in 1948. Directed by Darin J. Sallam and Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan), the film stars Hend Sabry, Ashraf Barhoum, Yasmine Ben Amara, Eyad Hourani, Firas Taybeh, Lara Sawalha, and Ahmad Al-Madani, and written by Amjad Al Rasheed, Darin J. Sallam, and Rifqi Assaf.

The Parrot had its world premiere at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) within the Muhr Short competition. The film is funded by the German foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung (RBS), which funds the Best German-Arab film projects. The Parrot received the 2015 Film Prize of RBS in the short fiction category. Most recently, the film won the Jury Award at the 7th Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden. The film is a German/Jordanian co-production between the German company Monokel (Roman Roitman) and the Jordanian company TaleBox (Deema Azar).

Screening Times of the Films Distributed by MAD Solutions at the Jounieh International Film Festival in Lebanon at College Central Jounieh (GMT +2)
Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim:Thursday, January 18, 08:00 PM
Kiss Me Not:Friday, January 19, 10:00 PM
The Parrot (Short Films Program): Starting Saturday, January 20, 10:15 PM until Sunday, January 21, 01:15 AM
Egyptian Jeanne d'Arc: Sunday, January 21, 04:00 PM