release date January 21 2022
A Gloomy Basement in Huda’s Salon Teaser Poster
A few weeks before the film’s Arab world premiere at Red Sea International Film Festival, Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad released the teaser poster for his latest film Huda’s Salon. The film had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The teaser poster features a gloomy wide room that looks like a torture chamber or an underground interrogation room. A beam of light enters the room through a hole in the high ceiling. There is a table for two with a lamp and a bottle of water, set next to a chimney. At the back of the room, Huda stands alone and looks stunning in a blue dress. She looks up while breathing out the smoke of her cigarette in a blue dress. Her look reflects her yearning for freedom. Does she long to be free from the room or the whole of a patriarchal society that limits women’s freedoms?
After its screening at TIFF, Huda’s Salon won rave reviews from critics. “Huda’s Salon recalls Hollywood mysteries from the 1940s in both its brisk pace and disarmingly simple style, resulting in a sparse, intelligent thriller…Long live the socially minded political thriller! Thanks to filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, this long-underserved sub-genre - once perfected by directors like Hitchcock, Pakula, and Weir - feels briefly resurrected thanks to his new picture Huda’s Salon,” wrote Dan Mecca in The Film Stage
“This movie is an emotional rollercoaster, in the best way imaginable...A masterpiece — you can't miss it,” stated Alisha Mughal in Exclaim. “This is a return to form and to more familiar territory for Abu-Assad,” wrote Wendy Ide in Screendaily. “Huda’s Salon” doesn’t waste a second in its crackling first 10 minutes, zooming from easy chatter to absolutely horrifying drama without missing a trick,” described Kate Erbland in Indie Wire
Based on real events, Huda’s Salon is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller, where two women fight for their freedom. Reem, a young mother who is married to a jealous man, goes to Huda's salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. However, this ordinary visit turns sour after Huda puts Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her to work for the secret service of the occupiers, hence betraying her people.
Huda’s Salon stars Ali Suliman, Manal Awad and Maisa Abd Elhadi. The film is produced by H&A Production (Hany Abu-Assad and Amira Diab), Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy) and co- produced by MAD Solutions (Maher Diab and Alaa Karkouti), Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad) Key Films, Cocoon and Philistine Films. Also, Daniel Ziskind of Film Clinic is the film’s co-producer. MEMENTO INTERNATIONAL handles worldwide distribution, while MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production handle the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
Palestinian screenwriter and director Hany Abu-Assad is one of the most eminent Arab directors. His filmography includes several exceptional Arab films that gained international recognition, such as Paradise Now (2005), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and the film Omar (2013) that also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2017, Abu-Assad directed his first hollywood film The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, which opened the 39th edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). Huda’s Salon is his latest feature film.
share
