Film SOULA Screens at the Royal Film Comission-Jordan Next Wednesday

release date September 27 2022

Feature film SOULA, by Salah Issaad, screens at the Royal Film Comission-Jordan on Wednesday, Sept. 28th, at 8:00 PM, Jordan time (GMT+3). “I came to Jordan for the first time, from afar, from Algeria, with my film SOULA, which I carried one time and it carried me another. We were both unfamiliar with the country. It was the decision of the committee of Amman International Film Festival, which operates under honorable leadership. When I went to check it out, I discovered it to be charmingly quiet. The festival awarded my film SOULA the top prize,” commented Salah Issaad on that occasion.

" I leave to you, followers, the final decision next Wednesday at the Royal Commission. I am thrilled that my film will screen once more in Jordan. I thank the Royal Commission for providing this opportunity. Have a good time watching the film,” he continued.

The film won Black Iris Award for Best Arab Feature-Length Narrative at the 3rd edition of Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film. During its journey, it received 9 awards; the Golden award for Best Feature Film, Special Mention and Best Actress for its leading actress, Soula Bahri, at the International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva; Best Feature Film and Best Actress (Soula Bahri) at Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden; Best Film at Beirut International Women Film Festival; Best Film at African Asian Latin American Film Festival in Milan; Best Film, Best Cinematography (Arthur Fanget) and The Don Quijote Award prize from the IFSS—International Federation of Film Societies at AVANCA Film Festival in Portugal. Moreover, it screened at Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Armenia and Tripoli Film Festival, Lebanon.

SOULA was commercially released in 7 Moroccan cities, as well as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Algeria before that. Landing its world premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival, SOULA earned widespread critical acclaim, with film critic Tarek El Shinnawi calling it as “a woman's cry out, and the performance of the leading actress, Soula Bahri, was striking.”

SOULA is the story of a single mother whose father expelled her, leaving her homeless with her baby. Soula finds herself going from one car to another with other people while looking for a safe location to stay the night. Throughout a night full of unfortunate events along the roads of Algeria, Soula tries her best to change her destiny, but fate has another saying.

Written, directed, and produced by Salah Issaad, SOULA is co-written by Soula Bahri, whose life story inspired the director to turn it into a film and let Soula play the lead role. The film is produced by Issaad Film Productions (the three brothers, Taqi Eldin, Abdelghafour, and Salah Issaad). The film stars Soula Bahri, Idir Benaibouche, and Franck Yvrai. MAD Solutions manages the film’s marketing and distribution in the Arab world.

Salah Issaad is an Algerian director who was raised in a family of publishers. After receiving a bachelor's degree (high school degree) in Letters and Foreign Languages in 2008, he joined the Law School of Batna in Algeria. He moved to France to complete his film studies for two years at the University of Paris VIII. Afterward, he joined the ARFIS audiovisual school in Lyon, and then he ended up joining the Factory School in Villeurbanne, where he obtained his cinema director diploma.

Salah directed a feature film and several short films, where his passion motivates him to tell stories that appreciate human relationships. Moreover, he likes to explore different narrative forms and film genres like drama, tragedy, stories inspired by real events as well as comedies.