After its extensive activities at 16 film festivals and markets since the beginning of 2017, the last of which was the 10th Cape Town International Film Market & Festival (CTIFMF), the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has announced that FilmLab: Palestine (FLP)has joined its partners' list. The new partner is going to accompany the ACC to international film festivals and markets aiming to promote the Arab film industry.

On the new partnership, Hanna Atallah,Artistic Director of FilmLab: Palestine (FLP), says, "To include Filmlab Palestine in the Arab Cinema Center, is an initiative that is very significant, since it is bringing the cinema of the Arab World together and makes it stronger and more powerful."

Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, Managing Partner of the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) and CEO of MAD Solutions, commented on the new partnership saying, "FilmLab: Palestine (FLP) is without a doubt an important addition to the Arab Cinema Center's partners list for its efforts in building a strong presence for Palestinian and Arab cinema on both regional and international levels, which is in complete agreement with the policies and strategies of the Arab Cinema Center."

Founded in 2014, Filmlab: Palestine's establishment as an organization was inspired by the personal experience of its founders in empowering Palestinian youth in refugee camps in Jordan. Realizing that this experience introduced young practitioners to the art of filmmaking as a creative and unconventional method to tell their own personal narratives, Filmlab: Palestine was established to further document the collective Palestinian memory as well as the unique individual voices of Palestinians within the occupied territories and abroad. Filmlab: Palestine aims to expand and cultivate the existing cinema culture within Palestine, while providing the much-needed technical and artistic support for emerging Palestinian filmmaking voices.

Organized by MAD Solutions, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), which operates for the third year, is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The Center's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.

Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC partners and their future projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.

Since the beginning of 2017, the ACC has made Sixteen stops at international festivals and markets. The festivals attended are the International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR), Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP) held within the Beirut Cinema Days, Istanbul Film Festival, Tripoli Film Festival, the 34th WIPO SCCR in Geneva, Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Eurasia International Film Festival, Festival del film Locarno, Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Film and Television Careers Connection (FTCC), San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Malmo Arab Film Festival and the
Cape Town International Film Market & Festival