DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN Screens in Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Centre, Kuwait

release date October 17 2022

Zaid Abu Hamdan's feature film DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN will be screened at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Centre in Kuwait on Tuesday, October 18 at 9:00 PM (GMT+3); Saturday, October 22, at 8:45 PM; and Tuesday, October 25, at 6:30 PM.

Recently, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN won the Audience Award at the Middle East Now Festival during the closing ceremony on Sunday, October 9. "We are so happy that the audience award went to DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN," said Lisa Chiari and Roberto Ruta, the founders and artistic directors of Middle East Now.

“The story and bonds of the four sisters, Zainab, Amaal, Samah, and Khitam, were so well received by our audience that the film's Italian premiere was met with long, thunderous applause, almost a standing ovation. It is not always easy to achieve a strong Q&A with the director, in-depth questions and answers, emotions, and good vibes with such a high level of empathy. We wish Zaid Abu Hamdan luck because he is a very talented director and a great person. He was able to engage and win over our audience and the whole Middle East Now team in every moment he was in Florence," they added.

This marks the film's 4th award. It had already won the same award at the FEST New Directors New Films Festival, Portugal; the San Diego Arab Film Festival, USA; and the Cairo International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

The Middle East Now Festival marks the first stop of the film’s tour outside the Arab borders during autumn. In October, it joined the Arabisches Filmfestival in Germany, as well as the 10th edition of the Calgary Arab Nights Film Festival in Canada. It is scheduled to screen at the Arab Film Festival Zurich in Switzerland this November.

  This global tour follows successful commercial screenings in the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia, which began in early September and will continue until the end of October. The film is also the first Jordanian film to be screened in Jordan cinemas for eight weeks in a row. DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN screened at the Amman International Film Festival-Awal Film where It was well received, and tickets sold out quickly. It was also commercially released in Saudi and Kuwaiti theatres, and it is set to be released in Egypt this month.
During its tour, the film received praise and critical acclaim, with Ali Al Kashouti describing it as "a film that combines the freshness of director Zaid Abu Hamdan's first experiences with the maturity of Saba Mubarak's acting performance and her sisters... and every story works for a feature film." Esraa Al Radaideh, on the other hand, described it as "a film that resembles us." The film was described in the CIFF newsletter as "a heart-warming ode to sisterhood in all its colorful complexities."

It was screened at the Beirut International Women Film Festival, where it got a special mention, and at the 1st edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Arab Spectacular Section). It also opened the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden.

The film follows the storyline of Zainab, who wakes up to a shocking discovery that could defame her in the neighborhood. She quickly calls for her sister’s aid. Yet, fiery Amaal has her secret struggle and is not having it with her sister Samah, who is too busy to be there. Meanwhile, Khitam tries to focus on her mission.

Written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsaiso, Hanan Al Hilo, Mariam Al Basha, and Khalid Al Tarifi. It is produced by Pan East Media (Saba Mubarak & Aya Wuhoush), Lagoonie Film Production, Wika Production and Distribution, and Arab Media Network. MAD Solutions manages the film’s distribution in the Arab world.

DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN received several funds, including the Doha Film Institute development fund, the Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission development and production funds, as well as a fund from the CineGouna Platform (post-production) at El Gouna Film Festival. The film was also selected among the finalist projects at the Tribeca Film Festival - All Access program and selected for the RFC Rawi Screenwriters Lab.

Pan East Media is a Jordanian production company that was started in 2011 by Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak and Aya Wuhoush. The main goal of the company is to make authentic audio-visual content in Jordan and show high-quality artistic work in the region and around the world. In 2015, Saba moved the company's headquarters to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and added talent management and entertainment production to its list of services.

Moreover, the company aims to enrich the quality of the content delivered. Over the years, it has come up with and developed a number of movie and TV scenarios.

Born and raised in Amman, Jordan, Zaid Abu Hamdan holds an MFA from the New York Film Academy in Hollywood, California. Zaid began his career as an Assistant Director and Producer on international TV shows such as E! Entertainment's coverage of the Golden Globe and Academy Awards. In addition, Zaid worked as a television reporter for the Middle East Broadcast Corporation Group (MBC Group) in Hollywood. He also worked on directing reality and scripted shows such as Sesame Street, a competition that shows and mentors the Arab Film Studio program at Image Nation, Abu Dhabi. Since 2009, Zaid has written and directed five award-winning and audience-acclaimed short films, including BAHIYA & MAHMOUD, Jordan's official submission to the Academy Awards in 2012.