MAD Solutions Acquires Arab World Distribution Rights For Director Abdulla Al Kaabi's Film Only Men Go To The Grave

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The First Collaboration between Iraqi and Iranian Arabs since the 1980s

MAD Solutions Acquires Arab World Distribution Rights For Director Abdulla Al Kaabi's Film Only Men Go To The Grave


MAD Solutions has inked the Arab world distribution rights deal for the Emirati film Only Men Go to the Grave by writer/director Abdulla Al Kaabi. In 2016, the film landed its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), where it won the Best Muhr Emirati Feature Award. Only Men Go to the Grave marks director Abdulla Al Kaabi's debut feature film. The film is continuing its festivals tour and is slated for a theatrical release in 2017 across the Arab world.

After the Iraq-Iran war ended in 1988, a blind mother welcomes her estranged daughters to tell them a secret. Unfortunately, she accidentally dies while sharing it. During the funeral, the daughters try to deal with their mother's sudden death and also work together to unveil her secret by looking for clues from visitors. Throughout the funeral, their own lives continue to unravel, giving room for buried family tensions to gradually surface, while struggling to deal with their own secrets and deep-rooted guilt. The arrival of an unfamiliar guest rocks the entire foundation of their family. How do they deal with the aftermath?

Written and directed by Abdulla Al Kaabi, Only Men Go to the Grave stars Saleema Yaqoub, Hebe Sabah and Abdelreza Nasari.

Abdulla Al Kaabi chose to make this film "In stark contrast to the ongoing violence in the Middle East. It's a film celebrating the eclectic culture and ethnic diversity of the region, through attempting to unravel an unusual love affair."

He also added, "Lately, Iraqi culture has been reduced to war and conflict. My film helps show a deeper side, a story with its roots in the human condition, featuring characters with virtues and charms but also defects that make them recognizable, real and multilayered. This film is the first collaboration between Iraqi and Iranian Arabs since the 1980s. It would also be the first time the Arab world meets Arab-Iranians on their silver screens. We see the beauty of filmmaking in bridging people through cultural understanding."

"An Arab making a film in Iran, in this age of time, is unheard of and despite all the difficulties the filmmaker and crew came across, they managed to make it. This is what we call the diplomacy of art, which I truly believe in. Above all, I am proud that in the midst of the Arab-Persian disagreements, Only Men Go to the Grave has echoed a strong message to the international community; art only understands peace," concluded Al Kaabi.

Abdulla Al Kaabi is an Emirati filmmaker who started his career while studying as a lead Presenter on Dubai TV in 2004 for four years, gaining valuable hands-on experience on production. In 2009, Al Kaabi moved to Paris to pursue a Master's Degree in Filmmaking at the EcoleInternationale de Creation Audiovisuelleet de Realisation (EICAR). Following his Master's Degree, Al Kaabi directed his first award-winning short film, The Philosopher (2011) with famed French actor Jean Reno. In 2014, his second short Koshk won two awards at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.