MAD Solutions Presents Its Marketing and Distribution Award at the Final Cut in Venice for the Fifth Consecutive Year

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Within Its Activities at the Venice International Film Festival

MAD Solutions Presents Its Marketing and Distribution Award at the Final Cut in Venice for the Fifth Consecutive Year


During the 76th edition of Venice International Film Festival, MAD Solutions will present its award that offers marketing and distribution services across the Arab world. For five straight years, MAD Award has been selecting its winning Arab project from the festival's Final Cut in Venice workshop, which is slated to be held this year through August 31- September 2).

The Arab film projects competing for the MAD Solutions award are the features films: Another Day in Baghdad (Iraq) by Maysoon Pachachi and Mica (Morocco) by Ismaël Ferroukhi, the documentaries: Captains of Za'atari (Egypt) by Ali El-Arabi and Nardjes, Alger, Mars 2019 (Algeria, Brazil) by Karim Ainouz.

In 2015, MAD Solutions first presented its MAD Award at the 3rd Final Cut in Venice to the documentary film Separation by Iraqi director Hakar Abdel Kader. In 2016, the award went to the documentary film Obscure by Syrian director Soudade Kaadan. In 2017, it was granted to Joint Possession by Moroccan director Leila Kilani, and at the workshop's 6th edition the award was offered to The Waiting Bench documentary project by Sudanese director Suhaib Gasmelbari.

The award offered by MAD Solutions comes as part of the company's strategy to support the Arab film industry through its different production stages internationally and regionally and to promote them on the long run. The company previously offered similar awards at the Open Doors initiative held as part of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, the MAFF Market Forum (MMF) of the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, the Palestine Cinema Days, and the Festival National du Film Professional Meetings in Tangier, Morocco.

The 7th Final Cut in Venice workshopsupports films in the post-production stage from Africa, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. The film selections are screened to an audience of producers, distributors and programmers of international film festivals. The workshop concludes with an award ceremony to honor the winning films that will be supported through the post-production phase.

The Final Cut in Venice aimsto develop the role of the Venice International Film Festival to become a bridge that supports independent filmmaking in these countries by providing effective production support and promoting the films on the international market level.

Organized by MAD Solutions, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) celebrates its fifth year since its inception in 2015. A nonprofit organization registered in Amsterdam, the ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC's partners and their future projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.

The Arab Cinema Center announced the launch of the MAD 3ARABI (Arab Flow) in Prague, Czech Republic. The festival aims to introduce the Arab culture and focus on the film and TV industry, flowing Arab entertainment and culture onto European shores, and also providing an extension for Arab filmmakers and content creators in the entertainment industry to reach new shores.