MAD Solutions has concluded a partnership with Open Doors, the co-production Lab that will take place during the 68th Festival del Film Locarno in Switzerland (5-15 August) to offer a special award to the winning film project. This year, the program will focus on film projects from the Maghreb region; 12 official selections are contending as part of the section.

The MAD Solutions award will grant distribution and promotional services for the winning film project. This comes as part of the company's long-term strategy to support and promote the Arab cinema industry in the region and beyond.

In a statement by Alaa Karkouti, CEO of MAD Solutions, he commented, "The Maghreb region's film culture is one of the richest and most diverse from the Arabic-speaking countries. It's only befitting that MAD would act as a ship exporting this wealth of content to the Arab world, in the former of distributing their films to a seldom-tapped audience."

Ananda Scepka, Head of Open Doors program, also expressed her enthusiasm for the award, "We are thrilled to introduce a prize dedicated solely to distribution support. Thanks to MAD and the newly launched Arab Cinema Center, one of the projects will benefit from this invaluable help, which in the current context is as important as development or production funding."

The Open Doors initiative aims to promote film production in countries with talented filmmakers who find it difficult to have a shot at success complete their film projects.. Every year, a country or several countries are selected allowing their filmmakers to participate in the competition. The program is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

This year, MAD Solutions launched two editions of the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), the first of which was held at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the second at Cannes Film Festival. ACC is an international platform promoting Arab cinema. Through its diverse actives and events, the Centre functions as a professional medium for Arab filmmakers to explore and network with the international film industry professionals, production companies' representatives, distribution slates and organizations investing in co-productions.