Sanctity by Saudi filmmaker and actress Ahd continues its successful tours in international film festivals, as the award winning short film will participate in the 7th Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'yia Arab Film Festivalthat will run from March 15th to March 24th, 2013.

Sanctity's participation in Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'yia Arab Film Festival marks the third participation in acclaimed festivals. The first participation of the film was in Doha Tribeca Film Festival where Sanctitygot awarded the Development award in the Arab Short Film competition.

The second festival participation of Sanctity was in the prestigious Berlin International Film Festivalwhere it was the first Saudi film to ever screen within the framework of the highly acclaimed festival.

Shot on location in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sanctity is written and directed by Saudi filmmaker and actress Ahd and is considered her second directorial effort. The film is produced by BIZIBI andSILVERGRAY with the participation of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image Animée CNC.

Mohamed Ottman stars opposite of Ahd in his first acting role in the film as well as veteran actorMohamed Bakr. Sanctity tells the story of Areej, a young widow who tries to do her best to protect her unborn child.

Ahd's directorial debut was the short film The Shoemaker where she played the title role opposite of the Egyptian actor Amr Waked. The film received numerous awards from Arab and international festivals including the Gulf Film Festival and Beirut Film Festival, as well as competing in the International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand.

In October-2012, Ahd was selected as a jury member in the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. In the same year,Ahd participated in the highly acclaimed Venice International Film Festival through her acting debut inWadjda, the first feature film to be shot in Saudi Arabia. Ahd's acting repertoire also includes the Turkish film Razn for which she won the Golden Gate Award for Best Actress at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Ahd is the first Saudi woman to study film acting and filmmaking in the USA, after which she worked on Hollywood films including The Kingdom with director Peter Berg in 2007.

Sanctity's screening in Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'iya Arab Film Festival will take place during
the Short Films' night:

Saturday March 16th | 08:30 pm | Metropolis Empire Sofil