Nine Films Distributed by MAD Solutions Take Part in the Sudan Independent Film Festival

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The Reports on Sarah and Saleem| Weldi| Haifa Street| Dreamaway| A Ciambra| The Tower| SARMAD| Give Up the Ghost| Before We Heal

Nine Films Distributed by MAD Solutions Take Part in the Sudan Independent Film Festival


Festival (SIFF) in Sudan (January 21-27). The MAD lineup at the festival includes five feature-length films, which are The Reports on Sarah and Saleem by Muayad Alayan, Weldi by Mohamed Ben Attia, Haifa Street by Mohanad Hayal, Dreamaway by Marouan Omara and Johana. Domke, the Italian film A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano, and The Tower by Mats Grorud; inaddition to three short films which are Sarmad by Abdullah Alhemairi, Before We Heal by Nadim Hobeika, and Give Up the Ghost by Zain Duraie.

Sudan Independent Film Festival [SIFF], organized by the Sudan Film Factory, is an annual artistic and cultural event held in Khartoum and a meet-up for African, Sudanese and international filmmakers, who work in developing independent films.


About The Reports on Sarah and Saleem:
Set in Jerusalem, Sarah and Saleem are having an extramarital affair that ignites a dangerous game of deceit between those who hold power and those who don’t. The Reports on Sarah and Saleem is written by Rami Alayan and directed by Muayad Alayan.
During its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the film won the Special Jury Award for Best Screenplay in the festival’s Official Competition (Hivos Tiger), in addition to the Audience Award (Hubert Bals). Moreover, it was commercially released in the European Film Market
(EFM), held within the Berlin International Film Festival.


Starring Maisa Abd Elhadi, Adeeb Safadi and Kamel El Basha, the film is a joint production between PalCine Productions in Palestine and co-producers KeyFilm in the Netherlands, Manderley Films GmbH in Germany, and Monofilms in Mexico. Moreover, MAD Solutions, handles the distribution of the film in the Arab world.


About Weldi:
The Cannes Film Festival has announced the film's world premiere within its Directors' Fortnight Section and competed within the Official Competition of El Gouna Film Festival where the Tunisian actor Mohamed Dhrif won Tunisian star Mohamed Dhrif won El Gouna Star for the Best Actor for his role. Additionally, it won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Film M diterran en de Bastia in France,

Weldi follows Riadh, who is about to retire from his work as a forklift operator at the port of Tunis. The life he shares with his wife Nazli revolves around their only son Sami, who is preparing for his high school exams. The boy's repeated migraine attacks are a cause of much worry to his parents. But when he finally seems to be getting better, Sami suddenly disappears.

Written and directed by Mohamed Ben Attia, Weldi is produced by Dora Bouchoucha's Nomadis Images, Les Films du Fleuve and Tanit Films. The film stars Mohamed Dhrif, Mouna Mejri, Zakaria Ben Ayed, Imen Cherif, Taylan Mintas and Tarik Copti. The film is distributed by MAD Solutions in the Arab world.


Haifa Street:
Haifa Street received eight awards, including the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition at the Cairo International Film Festival, the Best Film award at the Busan International Film Festival and had its Arab world premiere at the Carthage Film Festival (JCC), where it received wide audience and critical acclaim.

Set in Baghdad in 2006, Haifa Street is one of the most dangerous places suffering from the civil war and violence that has plagued the city. When Ahmed is dropped off there by a taxi on his way to his beloved Suad's house to ask for her hand in marriage, he gets shot by Salam, an anxious young sniper who is living his own personal hell on a rooftop above. Suad desperately tries to save Ahmed, but Salam prevents anyone from approaching him under the threat of gunfire. When her daughter Nadia elicits the help of their cunning neighbor, Dalal, all hell breaks loose under the ominous presence of the American occupation.

Directed by Mohanad Hayal, who co-wrote it with Hala Alsalman, Haifa Street stars Asad Abdulmajeed, Ali Thamer, Yumna Marwan, and Iman Abdulhassan, and produced by Sumerian Dream Productions. Wide Management handles the film's worldwide distribution, while MAD Solutions handles its distribution and marketing across the Arab world.


Dreamaway:
Representing freedom and easy cash, Sharm El Sheikh has long been a dream destination for Egyptian youth. Recently, terror attacks have brought tourism in the resort town to a halt. Dreamaway follows a group of young employees of a luxury hotel compound, where clichés and stereotypes of Western and Oriental cultures clash. This carousel-like experience elevates the youths into a dreamlike state.

Dreamaway is produced by Roman Roitman, (Monokel/Germany), Mark Lotfy (Fig Leaf Studio/Egypt) and Arne Birkenstock (FruitmarketKultur und Medien/Germany). MAD Solutions handles the film's distribution in the Arab world.


The Tower:
The film follows Wardi, an eleven-year-old Palestinian girl, who lives in the refugee camp. She learns about her family's history through stories told to her by three earlier generations of refugees. Written and directed by Mats Grorud, The Tower features the voices of Mohamed Bakri, Morad Hassan, Najla Said and Romina Adl Kasravi
The Tower received seven awards from prestigious international film festivals including; the Liv Ullmann Peace Prize and the Professional Jury: 2nd Prize for Best Animated Feature Film at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival; The film took part in different film festivals, including the Cairo International Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival, London Palestine Film Festival, Palestine Cinema Days, Annecy International Animated Film in France and Arab Film Festival in Famac.



A CIAMBRA:
Directed by Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra is a co-production of Italy, France, USA and Sweden and landed its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, as part of its Directors' Fortnight section. Moreover, it’s Italy's Official Submission to the Foreign Language Film Category at the 2018 Academy Awards.

Set in a small Romani community in Calabria, A Ciambra follows Pio, a 14-year-old brat who is desperate to grow up fast. He follows his older brother, Cosimo, everywhere. When he disappears, Pio sets out to prove he's ready to step into his big brother's shoes.


About Sarmad:
The film revolves around Imran, who tries to find a car registered in his name, and inside, the map and directions that lead to a place called Beit Omran, and on arrival, find a video explaining many secrets.

Written and directed by Abdullah Alhemairi, Sarmad stars Abdullah Alhemairi, Asem Hijazi, and Priyanka Porwal. The film is produced by Abdullah Alhemairi and Ali Bin Matar. The film landed its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), where it competed within the Muhr Short Competition. Sarmad is distributed by MAD Solutions in the Arab world.



Before We Heal:
Saleem and Raya meet at Raya's place. Saleem enters the toilet and somehow gets stuck. Between the inside and the outside, trials and disappointments, laughter and hope, memories and screams, are all being shared at the doorstep.

Written and directed by Nadim Hobeika, Before We Heal stars Yumna Marwan, Mohammad Bsat and Elie Njeim. The film's crew includes Cinematographer Céline Layous, Editor Nathalie Rbeiz, and Composer Jean Nassif. Before We Heal is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions.

Before We Heal won a Special Mention for Best Female Performance at the 2nd Beirut Women International Film Festival (BWFF). Before We Heal took part in the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), Carthage Film Festival (JCC), and was screened in its homeland Lebanon at the Lebanese Film Festival (LFF). The film world premiered at the Aegean Film Festival in Greece, and took part in the Arab Film Festival (AFF) in California, USA.


Give Up the Ghost:
Give up the Ghost tells the story of Salam whose dreams of becoming a mother shatters when she finds out that she is unable to have children with her husband. Written and directed by Zain Duraie and produced by Tabi360 (Alaa Alasad), the film brings together Maria Zurek and Zaid Bakri in the leading roles and is shot by DOP Benoit Chamaillard. MAD Solutions handles the film's distribution in the Arab world.
Additionally, it had its Arab premiere at El Gouna Film Festival, where it won the Best Arab Short Film.