Mahmoud Sabbagh's Film Barakah Meets Barakah Releases in Zawya Cinema

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The Film's Commercial Release in Egypt

Mahmoud Sabbagh's Film Barakah Meets Barakah Releases in Zawya Cinema


Director Mahmoud Sabbagh's Saudi film Barakah Meets Barakah will be released in Zawya Cinema in Egypt for a week starting Friday, the 25th of November.Barakah Meets Barakah is Saudi Arabia's official submission to the 2017 Academy Awards within the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Barakah Meets Barakah recently won a Certificat of Appreciation during the closing ceremony of the 38th the Cairo International Film Festival (15-24. November) where it was contending at the Prospects of Arab Cinema (PAC) programme. The film has also taken part at the Carthage Film Festival (JCC)
(27 October - 5 November)

The film has been chosen by the 60th BFI London Film Festival (5 - 16 October), run by the British Film Institute (BFI), to compete within the Laugh Gala. Moreover, the film has also been selected to compete within the Special Presentations section at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival (8 - 18 September) following its world premiere at the 66th Berlinale where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize within the Forum section.

Barakah Meets Barakah tells the story of two lovers who are united in an environment hostile to dating of any kind. He is Barakah, the municipal civil servant from Jeddah, who is also an amateur actor in a theatrical troupe. She is Barakah, a wild beauty, who functions as a crowd-puller for her stylish mother's boutique and runs her own widely-seen vlog. They both defy customs and traditions, as well as the religious police, using modern communication technologies and traditional dating methods.

MAD Solutions, alongside Film Clinic-Indie Film Distribution (FCIFD), has announced the acquisition of the Arab world distribution rights to the Saudi film through the French sales agency MPM Film.

Produced by El Housh Productions, Barakah Meets Barakah stars Hisham Fageeh, Fatima Al Banawi, Sami Hifny, Abdulmajeed Alruhaidi and Khairia Nazmi. The film is written and directed by Mahmoud Sabbagh. Born in Jeddah, Mahmoud Sabbagh is a Saudi director who studied Documentary Filmmaking in New York. He later worked as an independent film director and producer in Saudi Arabia. His repertoire includes the documentary The Story of Hamza Shahata (2013), TV series Cash (2014) and his feature debut film Barakah Meets Barakah.