The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has revealed that STARZ Studio for Acting & Casting has recently joined its list of partners that will accompany the ACC's caravan at international film festivals and markets in 2017. Founded by Acting Coach/Actress Marwa Gabriel in 2007, STARZ Studio is one of the most important acting studios in the Arab world, as well as one of the most important sources of casting actors/actresses for the most successful film and TV works.

This comes a few days after revealing the news on adding the Festival Internacional de Cine Latino Árabe (Latin Arab International Film Festival), the Latin Arab Coproduction Forum and the Emirati company Advanced Media to its list of partners.

Maher Diab, Creative Director and Co-founder of MAD Solutions and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) comments on this step saying, "Marwa Gabriel is one of the key names in the fields of casting and acting in Egypt and the Arab world. Her name has stood behind several big-name Arab and international titles. Marwa's latest fruitful efforts will be witnessed in the film Looking for Oum Kulthum that will screen in Venice as she has worked hard training Yasmin Raeis for her role in the new film. She is also part of the casting team Disney's new film production, Aladdin. Thus, this new partnership between STARZ Studio and the ACC will give us the advantage of adding this new window to our platform and will definitely diverse possibilities for joint productions with countries that are willing to cast Arab talents in their works."

In the same context, Marwa Gabriel, Founder of STARZ Studio, comments, "Our partnership with the ACC comes in alignment with our strategy of becoming more exposed to the international filmmaking scene. The studio shall benefit from the strong presence of the ACC in international film festivals and markets, which promotes the Arab film industry as a fertile ground for international co-productions."

STARZ Studio focuses on training young actors and turning them into professionals who can become stars in the entertainment industry. Several talents, who has become celebrated stars nowadays, have benefited from the Studio; Asser Yassin, Arwa Gouda and Yasmin Raeis.

An acting coach, casting director and above all an aspiring actress at heart, Marwa Gabriel has a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication and Theatre from the American University in Cairo (AUC).

She holds a Masters degree in Screen Writing from the California State University and studied numerous techniques for acting/ coaching in California. Gabriel is the only Arab accredited coach of the Chubbuck technique. Gabriel started her career as an acting coach until she established her company STARZ Studio
for Acting & Casting where she has been working on several acting workshops and projects. Gabriel has helped training many big stars and many young actors that are still on their way to be great artists one day. She has been the casting director for many hit projects such as Hepta: The Last Lecture, The Originals, Clash, The Nile Hilton Incident, and Looking for Umm Kulthum. Also, she is involved in the casting process of the anticipated Disney live-action film Aladdin by Director Guy Ritchie.

The Arab Cinema Center (ACC), which operates for the third year, organized by MAD Solutions, is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema that provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The Center's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.

Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC partners and their future projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.

Since the beginning of 2017, the ACC has made ten stops at international festivals and markets. The festivals attended are the International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR), Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP) held within the Beirut Cinema Days, Istanbul Film Festival, Tripoli Film Festival, the 34th WIPO SCCR in Geneva, Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Eurasia International Film Festival, and the Locarno International Film Festival.