MAD Solutions has announced the launch of CineMAD, a first-of-its-kind regional initiative bringing award-winning Arab films from the global festival circuit to cinemas across the Middle East and North Africa. The initiative was revealed during the closing ceremony of the Cairo International Film Festival, ahead of the screening of the closing film The Voice of Hind Rajab.
 
The program is set to kick off in three PREMIERE Cinemas locations across Cairo, with Empire Entertainment overseeing distribution across the GCC and the Levant, Filmlab handling distribution in Palestine, and Easy Distribution handling Tunisian cinemas, with additional MENA distribution partners to be announced in the coming weeks.
 
Running for three months starting December 2025, CineMAD will showcase over 20 acclaimed titles from some of the Arab world’s most celebrated filmmakers — transforming the way festival films reach audiences in the region.
 
The program spans three release models:
• Wide Release: High-profile, award-winning titles with star power and international visibility.
• Limited Release: Critically acclaimed gems for passionate cinephiles, showing in select cities.
• One Night Only: A simultaneous region-wide event uniting audiences across the Arab world.
 
CineMAD is designed to bridge the gap between festival acclaim and local audiences, offering viewers across the region access to the Arab world’s most compelling contemporary stories on the big screen. The initiative also aims to foster collaboration between festivals, film funds, embassies, cultural institutions, and the wider creative community, amplifying Arab cinema’s visibility and sustainability.
 
“CineMAD is about building a real ecosystem for Arab films — one that doesn’t end at the festival red carpet,” said Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, Co-Founders of MAD Solutions. “It’s about connecting films, filmmakers, and audiences in a way that feels alive, inclusive, and cinematic.
Partnering with strongly rooted cinema entities such as PREMIERE, Empire, Filmlab and Easy marks the beginning of a game-changing era for the Arab film industry. CineMAD represents the first chapter in a larger set of projects designed to anchor Arab festival titles firmly within mainstream cinema culture — and we are proud to present the best Arab festival films of 2025.”
On the collaboration, Ramzi Khoury, PREMIERE Cinemas Chairman and Deputy CEO at Misr International Films, said: “We are delighted to be the Egyptian platform for the first edition of CineMAD, bringing voices from the Maghreb, North Africa, and the Levant to our Cairene film fans.”
 
“We are extremely happy to be part of CineMAD,” said Serge Zabbal, Business Director at Empire Entertainment. “It’s an amazing initiative to make quality indie movies accessible in cinemas all around the region — a much-needed step to bring the great voices of the Arab world to the big screen.”
 
On the partnership, Hanna Atallah, Founder and Artistic Director of Filmlab Palestine, and Ola Salama, Executive Director, said: “At Filmlab Palestine, we’re proud to join this initiative that brings Arab stories to audiences across the region. This collaboration supports our mission to share authentic Palestinian and Arab voices on screen. CineMAD is more than a distribution program — it’s a celebration of our shared cinematic identity and a step toward a stronger, more connected Arab film culture.”
 
“We are thrilled and truly happy to be part of this exciting partnership,” said the Easy Distribution team — Nada Mezni Hafaeidh, Slim Hafaeidh, Noura Nefzi, and Arij Riahi. “At Easy Distribution, our goal has always been to create effortless reach and make a powerful impact, connecting exceptional films to the audiences they deserve. This collaboration allows us to bring more diverse voices and unique stories to the big screen, reaching cinephiles and new viewers alike. We believe in the transformative power of cinema, and being part of this initiative is a meaningful step toward celebrating and sharing these stories across the region.”
 
Omar Khalil, Project Manager of CineMAD, commented: “CineMAD is a big step toward making Arab indie and festival films part of everyday cinema culture. Just as indie films are thriving in commercial theatres worldwide, we want Arab festival titles to share that space — and hopefully inspire more emerging filmmakers to take their projects out of the drawer and bring them to life.”
CineMAD will launch in December 2025, spanning major Arab cities with a curated lineup that includes Palestine 36 by Annemarie Jacir (distributed in Saudi Arabia by Telfaz11), The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, Cotton Queen by Suzannah Mirghani, Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin, and dozens of other award-winning titles from Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria, and beyond.
 
In addition, CineMAD will kick off with a special opening-night event in Cairo titled “Drop The Beat”, hosted at PREMIERE Nile Cinema and sponsored by Red Bull. The night will spotlight three bold, high-energy short films that bridge cinema with the region’s fast-rising music scene: 60 Egyptian Pounds by Amr Salama, featuring Egyptian rap sensation Ziad Zaza; Smokey Eyes by Ali Ali, starring rap heavyweight Marwan Moussa; and Simo by Aziz Zoromba, featuring the hit track “Ghaba” by Marwan Pablo.
 
Full CineMAD Lineup:
• Palestine 36 by Annemarie Jacir — Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan
• The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania — Tunisia
• Cotton Queen by Suzannah Mirghani — Sudan
• Once Upon a Time in Gaza by Tarzan and Arab Nasser — Palestine
• The Settlement by Mohamed Rashad — Egypt
• Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin — Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
• My Father and Qaddafi by Jihan K — Libya
• Thank You for Banking with Us by Leila Abbas — Palestine
• The Vanishing by Karim Moussaoui — Tunisia
• Behind the Palm Trees by Meryem Benm’Barek — Morocco
• Where the Wind Comes From by Amel Guellaty — Tunisia
• Promised Sky by Erige Sehiri — Tunisia
• Algiers by Chakib Taleb Bendiab — Algeria
• A Bird From Paradise by Murad Ben Cheikh — Tunisia
• The Village Next to Paradise by Mo Harawe — Somalia
• Têtes Brûlées by Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama — Belgium, Tunisia
• Ghost Trail by Jonathan Millet — France, Syria
• Exile by Mehdi Hmili — Tunisia
• Rat Hole by Mohamed El Samman — Egypt
• 50 Metres by Yomna Khattab — Egypt
• Dead Dog by Sarah Francis — Lebanon
• 60 Egyptian Pounds by Amr Salama — Egypt
• Smokey Eyes by Ali Ali — Egypt
• Simo by Aziz Zoromba — Egypt
 
About MAD Solutions
Founded in 2010, MAD Solutions is the Arab world’s leading film marketing and distribution company, representing a diverse slate of award-winning films across festivals, cinemas, and digital platforms. The company is dedicated to expanding the reach of Arab storytelling worldwide.
 
About PREMIERE Cinemas
PREMIERE Cinemas is one of Egypt’s leading cinema groups and a subsidiary of the long-standing motion picture company Misr International Films, founded in 1972 by renowned filmmaker Youssef Chahine.
 
About Empire Entertainment
Empire Entertainment is one of the leading movie distributors in the MENA region, having represented a multitude of major studios for the past 100 years. With Sony Pictures as their major studio partner, Empire also distributes numerous Arabic films and produces and co-produces a wide range of projects to meet the region’s growing demand for diverse content.
 
About Filmlab Palestine
With its slogan “Emancipatory Film Culture in, from, and for Palestine”, Filmlab Palestine, a non-profit organization, strives, since its foundation in 2014, to promote, revive, and expand one of the most effective audiovisual tools for self-expression, storytelling, and the preservation of collective memory: Cinema.
 
About Easy Distribution
Easy Distribution is a Tunisian film distribution company driven by a deep passion for cinema and a firm belief in the power of storytelling. What started as a challenge quickly became a revelation: with the right strategy, every film can find its audience. This experience shaped our vision and laid the foundation for Easy Distribution.