Heralding an eventful year for MAD Solutions in 2016, the company is taking three films to the 4th Luxor Arab & European Film Festival (30 January- 5 February); Palestinian film 3000 Nights by director Mai Masri which opened the festival activities, Basil Khalil's Oscar®-nominated short film AVE MARIA, and Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure.

Luxor Arab & European Film Festival has become one of the most distinguished Egyptian international film festivals, where the best Arab and European films are presented in the attendance of the filmmakers and cinema professionals taking it as medium to find international co-production opportunities and international film distribution services under the umbrella of this international film hub.

3000 Nights

Written and directed by Mai Masri, the film revolves around a newlywed Palestinian school teacher, who gives birth to her first child while incarcerated in an Israeli prison. Through her struggle to raise her son behind bars, and her relationship with the other prisoners, she manages to find a sense of hope and a meaning to her life. The film was recently screened in the United States at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. It won the Jury Award at the Women's International Film & Television Showcase in the U.S., and the Audience Award at the Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain. 3000 Nights was premiered at Toronto Film Festival and had sold-out screenings in several major international festivals including Busan (South Korea) and London (UK). It had its first commercial screening in the Palestinian city of Nablus this month where the director was awarded three honorary shields by the An-Najah National University in Nablus and an Egyptian family in appreciation of her work in Palestinian cinema.

AVE MARIA

Written and directed by Basil Khalil, AVE MARIA is a 14-minute comedy that tells the story of Palestinian nuns living in the middle of the West Bank wilderness, who have their daily routine of silence and prayer disrupted when a family of Israeli settlers breaks down right outside their convent just as the Sabbath is beginning. The family need to get home but can't operate the phone, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence. The film received an Academy Award® nomination for the Best Live-Action Short after its successful run at well over 60 festivals in 27 different countries, gathering 14 awards in 8 months. The film began its journey with its world premiere in the official selection at Cannes Film Festival in May 2015. It also won the prestigious Best Muhr Short Award at the 12th Dubai International Film Festival in December 2015. The film is planned to have a commercial release in the Arab world, marking the first distribution initiative of its kind in the region.

The Gate of Departure

The Gate of Departure recounts the story of a young man who dreams of exploring the world as he grows up in isolation along with his grandmother and mother, who due to the latter's fears that he would abandon her, just as his father did, decides to lock him up in the house. Starring Salwa Khattab, Ahmed Magdy, Amaal Abdel Hady and Shams Labib, the film is produced by Khaial Art Production with support from Egypt's Ministry of Culture. With MAD Solutions on board as the film's distributor in the Arab world, the company has released the film in Egyptian cinemas across Cairo. The Gate of Departure was the only Egyptian film that took part in the Official Competition of the 2014 Cairo International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Pyramid Award for Best Artistic Contribution, and it was also selected by critics as the best Arab film of the last two years.

Screening times of 3000 Nights at Luxor Arab & European Film Festival (GMT +2)
Sunday 31st of January at 03:30 pm
Screening times of AVE MARIA at Luxor Arab & European Film Festival (GMT +2)
Monday, 1st of February at 06:30 pm
Tuesday, 2nd of February at 06:30 pm
Screening times of The Gate of Departure at Luxor Arab & European Film Festival (GMT +2)
Monday, 1st of February at 09:30 pm