Love, Theft and Other Entanglements Screened at Reel Palestine in Dubai

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Before Its Commercial Release in the Arab World

Love, Theft and Other Entanglements Screened at Reel Palestine in Dubai


Being one of the most important Palestinian films in 2015, Muayad Alayan's Love, Theft and Other Entanglements screened at Alserkal Avenue as part of Reel Palestine in Dubai. This come ahead of the film's commercial release across the Arab world during the first quarter of 2016 by MAD Solutions, the film's distributor in the Arab world through its distribution arm MAD Distribution.

Commenting on the film's screening at Palestine Reel, director Muayad Alayan stated, "I'm always pleased to see my film being screened in international film festivals and events dedicated to showcase Palestinian films and/or highlight the stories inspired by the Palestinian issue as they have been a great platform for all Palestinian films to reach audiences worldwide."

Reel Palestine is a pop-up film festival showing a selection of alternative Palestinian films in the UAE. The main aim of Reel Palestine is to present Palestinian culture and tenacity through film and submerge the audience in the beautiful, difficult, emotional, and inspirational moments that occur under occupation and to tear down the wall (literally) and allow viewers to cinematically travel to the beloved Palestine, sans restrictions.

Shot in black and white, the film revolves around a Palestinian car thief who gets into the trouble of his life when he steals the wrong car. What he thought was an Israeli car and an easy way to make money, turns out to be a load of misfortune when he discovers a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the trunk.

Love, Theft, and Other Entanglements is director Muayad Alayan's debut feature film. He also was the Director of Photography for the film which was co-written and co-produced with Rami Alayan through PalCine Productions. The film stars Sami Metwasi, Maya Abu Alhayyat, Ramzi Maqdisi, Riyad Sliman, Kamel Elbasha, Hussein Nakhleh with MAD Solutions handling the film's distribution in the Arab world.

Last October, Muayad Alayan's film won Best Narrative award at the 19th Arab Film Festival (AFF) in San Francisco, USA. Most recently, Love, Theft and Other Entanglements competed within the Official Competition Debut Film at the 26th Carthage Film Festival, in addition being selected for Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), where it's set to screen at the Arabian Nights section, which screens world renowned films with a distinctive Arab flavor.

The film's world premiere was held at Berlin International Film Festival within the Panorama Section
and was nominated for the Best First Feature Award at Berlin International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival in the United States, Taipei Film Festival in Taiwan and Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland. It was also screened as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival (24 September - 9 October) within the Cinema of Our Time section, which includes feature films from over 30 countries around the world and encompasses some of the best contemporary films that have either won awards or taken part in distinguished film festivals, such as Cannes and Berlin. The section also includes premiere screenings of the most anticipated feature films that are set to be released in cinemas next year.

Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian film director, producer and cinematographer based in Jerusalem. After completing his studies in San Francisco, Alayan retuned to Palestine with the goal of making organic cinema by and about Palestinians as a community; a cinema made through the participation of people coming together to tell stories, against all odds and with means that creatively defy limitations. At the age of 22, Alayan tested his vision with his first narrative short, Lesh Sabreen?, which was made with the participation of youth and young adults in his home village and focused on their experiences and concerns as youth living in Jerusalem and under occupation. The film was premiered in competition at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France in 2009 and went on to compete at several other prestigious festivals such as Palm Springs Shortfest and Dubai Film Festival, in addition to over 60 other festivals in 25 countries worldwide.