MAD Solutions Releases Theeb and AVE MARIA in Palestine

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Only Hours before Announcing the Oscars'® Winners

MAD Solutions Releases Theeb and AVE MARIA in Palestine


The Arab audience in Palestine will have the chance to watch the two Oscars® nominated Arab films;
Theeb and AVE MARIA, only a few hours before the announcements of the winners at the 88th Academy Awards® ceremony. MAD Solutions revealed that Naji Abu Nowar's Jordanian film Theeb, nominated for the Academy Awards® Best Foreign-Language Film Award and Basil Khalil's Palestinian short film AVE MARIA, in the Live-Action Short Films category, will be released in Palestinian theatres on Sunday, February 28th.

With this unprecedented Arab joint release, AVE MARIA will be the first short film in Arab cinemas. On the other hand, this marks Theeb's come back to the Arab cinemas following its successful theatrical run during. MAD is planning to expand for a wider theatrical release of the film across further Arab countries.

Theeb is Jordanian director/writer Naji Abu Nowar's first feature film which he co-scripted with Bassel Ghandour. Set in the Arabian Desert of 1916, the film follows Theeb, a young Bedouin boy, and his brother Hussein as they leave the safety of their tribe to venture on a treacherous journey at the dawn of the Great Revolt. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust and betrayal.

AVE MARIA is a 14-minute comedy that tells the story of an order of Palestinian nuns living in the middle of the West Bank wilderness. Their daily routine of silence and prayer is disrupted when a family of Israeli settlers breaks down right outside their convent, just as the Sabbath is beginning. The family need to get home but can't operate the phone, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence.

Theeb and AVE MARIA will be released in Palestinian cinemas in Ramallah at Palestine Trade Tower Cinemas, Jerusalem at Yabous Cultural Center, Jenin at Cinema Jenin, Nazareth at Cinemana, Haifa at Arab Cultural Association and Bethlehem at Dar Al Kalima.