release date June 23 2022
FARAH Wins Best Feature Film (Audience Poll) at Lebanese Independent Film Festival
Marking its first award, FARAH, directed by Hassiba Freiha and Kenton Oxley, won Best Feature Film, based on audiences’ votes, at the Lebanese Independent Film Festival.
FARAH received wide critical acclaim where Mohamed Hegazy, reviews it in Al Mayadeen, saying that “ FARAH is 119 minutes, Lebanese drama, in which the scenes flowed smoothly and spontaneously and the characters were showing their traits through a bright picture and a clear sound”.
On another note, FARAH world premiered at Beirut International Women’s Film Festival and screened at San Diego Arab Film Festival and Lebanese Film Festival in Canada.
The plot of the film follows Lina, a pre-med student, who starts experiencing severe recurring nightmares, her life begins to crumble and she is then sent home to Beirut, Lebanon. They prescribed her the controversial antidepressant ‘Xapa’ - also known in its illegal form as ‘Joy’ - to help her recover. However, as Lina’s alarming nightmares continue to worsen and a link between them and her birth mother, Farah, becomes clear, she sets out on a quest to uncover a web of family secrets that will lead her to a shattering ultimate truth.
Written by Hassiba Freiha who also directed it along with Kenton Oxley, Farah stars Stephanie Atala, Majdi Machmouchi, Hassiba Freiha, and Youssef Boulos. The film is shot by Elias Trad and edited by Marcus D’Arcy. MAD Solutions is in charge of the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
Hassiba Freiha is a writer and producer, who worked on several projects including Temperance, which was screened at the Middle East International Film Festival as well as the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival. Later, an independent online platform acquired the distribution rights of the film. Hassiba worked on several other projects including the feature film, City Island, with Andy Garcia and Alan Arkin, and National Wildlife Federation’s project “Campus Chillout”, which featured Vice President Al Gore, Oscar-winning producer, and Philanthropist Jeff Skoll, and Oscar-winning producer Lawrence Bender. Following these projects, Hassiba co-produced, assistant-directed, and starred in the short film Wahdon (Alone) which went on to be part of film festivals around the world. In addition to acting in a handful of other short films, Hassiba was hired by twofour54 Abu Dhabi, a government-backed media services company, to join their post-production team as a bookings manager before moving up the ranks to manage their department. During this time Hassiba continued to develop her skills as a filmmaker and also post-produced two feature films.
Kenton Oxley has carved a successful career in the television and film industry, Kenton is globally respected for his work. As a producer and CEO of his own production services company, Knockout Production Services, Kenton worked on multi-million-dollar blockbuster projects. Kenton succeeded to be the youngest ever Director for ITV at the age of 20, working for media-related government companies in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia. For 6 years, he headed the Production & Global Trade department at Twofour 54. Kenton has gained international experience for projects such as Left Bank Pictures, Top Gear, and Bang Bang.
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