release date September 19 2023
MAD Solutions wins big at 4th Amman International Film Festival
HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME, TRINO, RAT HOLE, and LYD — four hits from MAD Solutions’ distribution slate — managed to bag five awards during the fourth edition of the Amman International Film Festival’s closing ceremony on Tuesday, August 22nd.
Sharing the first award are Ward Kayyal’s HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME and Nejib Kthiri’s TRINOU, which both won a Jury Award.
Meanwhile, Mohamed El-Samman’s RAT HOLE shared a Special Mention with Carlos Chahine’s MOTHER VALLEY, with both films getting a nod for the performances of their lead actresses — Rana Khattab and Marilyne Naaman, respectively.
Finally, Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland’s feature-length documentary LYD came out swinging right out the gate, winning a Jury Award for Best Documentary and an inaugural Fipresci Award on its first festival outing.
In celebration of these flicks, below is a brief summary of each award-winning film:
First is the documentary LYD, which is the story of a city that once connected Palestine to the world — what it once was, what it is now, and what it could have become.
The film is directed by Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland, who also co-wrote it with Eyas Salman, and is narrated by Maisa Abd Elhadi.
Next up is the feature-length film RAT HOLE, which follows Kholoud, who, in her attempt to make some extra money, bites off more than she can chew at work and races against time to fulfill an unreasonable quota.
The film is written and directed by Mohamed El-Samman and stars Rana Khattab, Mohamed Yorka, and Kamal El-Asnawy.
Third is Ward Kayyal’s short film HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME,, which tells the story of Omar — a young boy who escapes his failing body and secluded life by traveling in dreams he creates from magazines his mother used to give him.
When his stepfather urges his wife to change her approach towards her son and stop giving him magazines, both mother and son take an important and life-changing step.
The cast for TRINOU includes Max Pemberton — who guest-starred as Dalton in the first episode of Tim Burton's Netflix series WEDNESDAY — as the lead, alongside Mohamed Grayaa, Kaouther Dhaouedi, and Eleanor Crowe.
Finally, but certainly not least, is TRINOU, which follows Omar, a desperate teenager who tries to escape his dejected reality by collecting magazine cutouts.
The film is written and directed by Nejib Kthiri and stars Max Pemberton, Mohamed Grayaa, Kaouther Dhaouedi, and Eleanor Crowe.
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