Cementing its status as a regional powerhouse, MAD Solutions dominated the awards at the closing ceremony of the sixth Casablanca Arab Film Festival last Friday night, taking home three top honors and a special mention for three of its standout films from its extensive roster.
 
Leading the charge was THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US!, which claimed the festival’s Grand Prize along with the Best Actress Award for Clara Khoury; THIS IS MY NIGHT followed with a Best Screenplay win for Kifah Zainie; while SUDAN, REMEMBER US rounded out the accolades with a Special Mention from the jury.
 
THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! — which recently took home two back-to-back awards, winning Best Fiction Feature at the Beirut International Women Film Festival, as well as Best Screenplay at Sweden’s 15th Malmö Arab Film Festival — held its Moroccan premiere at the festival.
 
 A joint production between Germany and Palestine that is written and directed by Laila Abbas, the film is a sister-heist comedy with a dose of social commentary, starring Yasmine Al-Masri, Clara Khoury, Kamil Al-Basha, and Ashraf Barhoum, and follows two sisters who, after their father's death, must get their hands on the inheritance before their brother finds out and claims half of the money
 
Meanwhile, Jafra Younes’ THIS IS MY NIGHT, which held its Arab World premiere at the Moroccan festival in the presence of the director, is a Syrian-Emirati co-production and follows Ruba, an artist grappling with severe depression, who lives with her retired military father. At noon, after she finishes cleaning the apartment, she confides in him about her intention to commit suicide.
 
Having already world premiered at Spain’s International Human Rights Festival, the drama film directed, produced, and starring Jafra Younes alongside Hassan Alsaleh, was written by Kifah Zainie, lensed by Abdulelah Alawamleh, and edited by Zaid Almomini and Osama Herzallah, with sound handled by Shakeeb Al Jaeousi and music by Babel.
 
Last up, SUDAN, REMEMBER US by Hind Meddeb is a French-Tunisian documentary that offers a collective portrait of a generation fighting for freedom with their words, poems, and chants. It follows five young Sudanese political activists as they struggle to overthrow the country's military regime in the tumultuous years leading up to the Sudanese Civil War and their subsequent exile.
 
The film world premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, receiving wide praise from audiences and critics alike. It subsequently participated in over 20 festivals, including Ajyal, Marrakech, Carthage, Malmö, the Arab Film Festival in Berlin, and Aswan International Women’s Film Festival.