The Journey Wins Two Awards at the Festival des Cinemas Arabes a Paris

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Winner of Five International Awards

The Journey Wins Two Awards at the Festival des Cinemas Arabes a Paris


Director Mohamed Al-Daradji's film The Journey has raised its number of awards to five by winning two awards at the Festival des Cinémas Arabes à Paris (Arab Cinema Festival in Paris), France that ended its activities on Saturday, July 7. The two awards are the Grand Prize of the Arab World Institute for director Mohamed Al-Daradji and the Best Actress Award for star Zahraa Ghandour.

Most recently, The Journey landed its Jordanian premiere at the 24th edition of the Franco Arab Film Festival, organized by the Institut Français in Amman, in collaboration with the Royal Film Commission - RFC. The film also took part in the Cairo Cinema Days. The Journey won the Jury Award and Best Actress Award at the Muscat International Film Festival. The film also won the Special Jury Award at its Egyptian premiere at the Sharm El-Sheikh Film Festival.

Set in Baghdad in 2006. As Sara stands on the cusp of committing an unthinkable act, an unforeseen and awkward encounter gives her the opportunity to witness the potential consequences of her destructive action. But is this a second chance or an admission of guilt?

The Journey was released in Iraqi theaters, and took part in more than ten film festivals around the world. The film landed its Arab world premiere at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) within the Muhr Feature competition. The film also competed in the official competitions of the BFI London Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival. The Journey made its U.S premiere at the Miami Film Festival.

Directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, who co-wrote the film with Isabelle Stead, The Journey stars Zahraa Ghandour and Ameer Jbara. The film is produced by Human Film, Iraqi Independent Film Center (IIFC), in cooperation with Lionceau Films, Iraq Al-Rafidain and Iraqi Media Network. The Journey received grants from the Doha Film Institute, AFAC - The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, World Cinema Fund (WCF), the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image Animée (CNC) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Institut Français, Netherlands Film Fund, SANAD Development Fund (Abu Dhabi Film Festival) and Screen Yorkshire. The film is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions.