MAD Solutions will send two short films to screen at the 22nd Ismailia International Film Festival For Documentaries and Shorts (June 16-22). The two shorts are; Sudanese film Al-Sit by Suzannah Mirghani, and Kuwaiti film Bint Werdan by Maysaa Almumin.

Launched in 1991, the Ismailia International Film Festival For Documentaries and Shorts was created with the belief that documentaries and shorts cultivate intercultural dialogue between nations and promotes for deeper understanding of others’ different social visions, values, and thoughts.

About Al-Sit:
Al-Sit is a Sudanese short film that has previously won 6 international awards, including Audience Choice Award, and the Jury Award for Most Promising Filmmaker at Toronto Arab Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Oscar-qualifying Tampere Film Festival, two awards at Malmo Arab Film Festival, Sweden and the Canal+/Cine+ Award, which was presented by the French channel Canal Plus Cinema within the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, where the film landed its international premiere.

In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman who lives abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa’s future. But can Nafisa choose for herself?

Al-Sit is written and directed by Suzannah Mirghani, who co-produced it along with Eiman Mirghani, and stars Mihad Murtada, Rabeha Mohammed, Mohammed Magdi and Haram Basher. The film is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions and has previously received a development workshop and a production grant from Doha Film Institute, as well as a design grant from VCUarts Qatar.

About Bint Werdan:
Bint Werdan is a short Kuwaiti film that has landed its world premiere at Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden. It has also participated in a number of festivals, including Tampere Film Festival in Finland, Cinefantasy International Film Festival, where it won a Special Mention, Monsters Taranto Horror Film Festival in Italy, and Ajyal Film Festival in Qatar.

A woman in a downhearted mood struggles to keep up appearances in front of her chirpy and driven office colleagues. An encounter with a dying cockroach in the office toilet develops into an absurd friendship, becoming the comforting companionship she needs until she realizes its destructive effects on her life.

Written and directed by Maysaa Almumin, the film stars Enas El Fallal, Sedky Sakhr, and Sandy Sawiri. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution.