The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul and Only Men Go to the Grave Contend at the Arab Film Festival in Korea

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Distributed by MAD Solutions

The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul and Only Men Go to the Grave Contend at the Arab Film Festival in Korea


Two films distributed by MAD Solutions through the Arab world will take part in the seventh edition of the Arab Film Festival (1 - 6 June) in Seoul and Busan, South Korea. The two MAD films are The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul by director Andaç Haznederoğlu and star Saba Mubarak and Only Men Go to the Grave by director Abdulla Al Kaabi.

About The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul:

The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul follows the journey of Lena and Meryem during their escape from the war in Syria. Lena is a ten-year-old girl who has lost her family in the war. She finds herself forced to make her way to Turkey with her baby sister and their neighbor Meryem, along with the other refugees. Lena wants to return home, while Meryem's hope is reach Europe.

Written and directed by Turkish director Andaç Haznederoğlu, The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul stars Saba Mubarak and child Rawan Skeif, alongside a number of real Syrian refugees who are acting for the first time.The filmis a co-production between the Turkish companies; Andaç Film Productions, Istanbul Digital (ID) and Istanbul Film Production (IFP); and the Jordanian company Pan East Media. The film project has received financial support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. MAD Solutions is handling the film's distribution in the Arab world.

About Only Men Go to the Grave:

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?

Only Men Go to the Grave stars Saleema Yaqoub, Heba Sabah and Abdelreza Nasari. The film is written and directed by Abdulla Al Kaabi marking his debut feature film. MAD Solutions is handling the film's distribution in the Arab world.