Ever the Pan-Arab leader in film distribution, MAD Solutions will be featuring four hit films from its extensive distribution slate at the Kaleidoskop Section of the upcoming edition of the Filmfest Hamburg, which is set to take place from September 28th to October 7th in Germany.
 
The MAD line-up includes Amjad Al-Rasheed's INSHALLAH A BOY — which will be the opening film of the prestigious festival — Mohamed Kordofani’s GOODBYE JULIA, Mohamed Ben Attia's BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS, and Faouzi Bensaïdi’s DÉSERTS.
 
Coming up first is INSHALLAH A BOY, which recently won Best Actress and a Jury Award during the latest edition of the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival and garnered widespread acclaim after a historic world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics Week, where it nabbed the Gan Foundation and Rail d’ Or awards. 
 
The film follows the recently widowed Nawal, who has to save her daughter and home following her husband’s death in a society where having a son is a game changer.
 
The next film on the lineup is GOODBYE JULIA, the first Sudanese picture and director to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the ‘Freedom Prize after an impressive world premiere.
 
The film’s events are set before the secession of South Sudan, when a married former singer from the north seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.
 
GOODBYE JULIA, which will screen in Hamburg on September 29th at 6:15 pm at Cinemax 2 and on October 1st at 6 pm at Alabama, stars Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak — the former Ms. South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany.
 
The film was written and directed by Kordofani and produced by Station Films’ acclaimed Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala — the director of Sudan’s first-ever submission to the Academy Awards, YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY. 
 
Third on the roster is BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS, which will screen on September 29th at 9 pm at Alabama, October 2nd at 7 pm at Albaton Oben, and twice at Studio — once on October 2nd at 7:30 pm and again on October 7th at 6:45 pm.
 
The film follows Rafeek, who, after spending four years in jail, decides to take his only son behind the mountains to show him an incredible find, and had a successful world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before screening at the Busan International Film Festival.
 
Written and directed by Ben Attia, who won the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for his film HEDI, the film stars Majd Mastoura — who previously won Best Actor at the same festival — rising talent Samer Bisharat, Walid Bouchhioua, Salma Zeghidi, and Helmi Dridi.
 
Last, but certainly not least, is DÉSERTS, which will have two screenings at Studio, one of which will be on October 2nd at 7:30 pm and the other on October 7th at 6:45 pm.
 
DÉSERTS was an official selection of this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and follows two petty crooks, Mehdi and Hamid, in their wrinkled suits and ties as they drive around southern Morocco in their car. Their mission is to recover a backlog of loans for their agency that have not been repaid by villagers overwhelmed by poverty and drought.
 
Directed and co-edited by Bensaïdi, the film’s key cast includes Fehd Benchemsi — best known for AMERICAN SNIPER — alongside Abdelhadi Talbi, Rabii Benjhaile, and Hajar Graigaa.