Feature film Huda's Salon by the award-winning director Hany Abu-Assad, opens the 8^th edition of Reel Palestine Film Festival (January 28^th – February 6^th), where it is scheduled for three screenings. Most recently, the film landed its Arab world premiere at Red Sea International Film Festival.
 
Reel Palestine is an annual film festival showing a selection of alternative Palestinian films in the UAE at Warehouse 421 in Abu Dhabi and Cinema Akil. The independent cinema platform brings quality films from across the world to audiences in the UAE.
 
Based on real events, Huda’s Salon is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller, where two women fight for their freedom. Reem, a young mother who is married to a jealous man, goes to Huda's salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. However, this ordinary visit turns sour after Huda puts Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her to work for the secret service of the occupiers, hence betraying her people.
 
Huda’s Salon received wide critical acclaim upon its premiere at Toronto International Film Festival. “Huda’s Salon recalls Hollywood mysteries from the 1940s in both its brisk pace and disarmingly simple style, resulting in a sparse, intelligent thriller…Long live the socially minded political thriller! Thanks to filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, this long-underserved sub-genre - once perfected by directors like Hitchcock, Pakula, and Weir - feels briefly resurrected thanks to his new picture Huda’s Salon,” wrote Dan Mecca in The Film Stage. It was also described as “an emotional rollercoaster, in the best way imaginable… This film is a masterpiece — you can't miss it” by Alisha Mughal, via Exclaim!, “This is a return to form and to more familiar territory for Abu-Assad” by Wendy Ide, via Screen Daily, and “Huda’s Salon” doesn’t waste a second… zooming from easy chatter to absolutely horrifying drama” by Kate Erbland, via Indie Wire.
 
 Huda’s Salon stars Ali Suliman, Manal Awad and Maisa Abd Elhadi. The film  is produced by H&A Production (Hany Abu-Assad and Amira Diab), Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy) and co- produced by MAD Solutions (Maher Diab and Alaa Karkouti),and Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad), while Daniel Ziskind of Film Clinic is the film’s co-producer. The film is also co-produced by Key Films, Cocoon and Philistine Films. MEMENTO INTERNATIONAL handles worldwide distribution, while MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production handle the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
 
 Palestinian screenwriter and director Hany Abu-Assad is one of the most eminent Arab directors. His filmography includes several exceptional Arab films that gained international recognition, such as Paradise Now (2005), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and the film Omar (2013) that also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  In 2017, Abu-Assad directed The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, which opened the 39th edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). Huda’s Salon is his latest feature film. 
 
The Film’s Screening Times (GMT +4):
Friday, January 28^th, at 7:00 PM
Tuesday, February 1^st , at 9:30 PM
Friday, February 4^th, at 7:00 PM