Three MAD films to hold their Arab World premieres at 7th El Gouna Film Festival

release date October 02 2024

Indie Arab film distribution giant MAD Solutions is sending three brand new heavy-hitting narrative features from its slate to the 7th El Gouna Film Festival (GFF), where they will each be holding their Arab World premieres: ALGIERS, THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US!, and GHOST TRAIL.

First on our lineup is Chakib Taleb-Bendiab’s ALGIERS, a gripping narrative about a little girl's kidnapping, which ignites a whirlwind of tension and suspicion within the city. The film follows the dogged efforts of Dounia, a brilliant psychiatrist, and Sami, a dedicated police inspector, as they uncover the demons of Algeria’s past and solve a perplexing mystery.

The film held its world premiere at the Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival in the US, where it won Best Film.

Next up is the Palestinian film THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! by Laila Abbas, wherein a bond between two sisters unfolds, following the death of their father. After finding out that he left a huge sum of money behind, Mariam and Noura come up with an elaborate scheme to abscond with the money before their brother — who is legally entitled to half the inheritance — finds out about their father’s death.

Discussing the film's themes, director Laila Abbas said, “This story is about womanhood and the need for women to stay close emotionally and physically to triumph”. The film is set to world premiere soon at the BFI London Film Festival before making its way to the GFF.

And finally, we have Johnathan Miller‘s acclaimed French-Syrian thriller GHOST TRAIL, which opened the Cannes Film Festival’s 63rd Critics’ Week.

Based on the true story of a secret group who hunt down the regime’s fugitive leaders, the film follows Hamid, as he journeys to France in pursuit of his former torturer.

Speaking on the much-lauded film, the director says that he, “spent a year documenting these cells, meeting some of their members, and listening to accounts of how they would tail people. My characters were inspired and informed by my encounters,” adding, “by documenting the situation as accurately as possible, I finally found the emotional angle of my film, where the theme of trauma could fit in with a plot based on bereavement and the different futures available to my character.”

Notably, the film received a Golden Camera nomination at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, and won two awards; Best Feature at the Jerusalem Film Festival, and a Jury Prize at the La Ciotat Berceau Du Cinéma in France.

The seventh El Gouna Film Festival is scheduled to run from October 24th to November 1st.