Through the films, the festival aims to introduce a new perspective on Arab culture and community.
MAD Solutions has sent four films to San Diego Arab Film Festival, which will run until April 4, 2022.
Lebanese film Farah will screen in the presence of its directors Hassiba Freiha and Kenton Oxley. Other films include Jordanian film Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman, by Zaid Abu Hamdan, Egyptian film Trapped, by Manal Khaled, and Lebanese-German film The Anger, by Maria Ivanova Z.
Launched in 2012 by the non-profit organisation KARAMA, San Diego Arab Film Festival aims at introducing a new focused perspective on the Arab culture and community through films.
The story of Farah revolves around the pre-med student, Lina, who starts experiencing severe recurring nightmares, her life begins to fall apart. She is then sent home to Beirut, Lebanon where they prescribed her the controversial antidepressant ‘Xapa’ – also known in its illegal form as ‘Joy’ – to help her recover. However, as Lina’s alarming nightmares continue to worsen and a link between them and her birth mother, Farah, becomes clear, she sets out on a quest to uncover a web of family secrets which will lead her to a shattering ultimate truth.
Landed its world premiere at Beirut International Women Film Festival, the film is written by Hassiba Freiha who also directed it along with Kenton Oxley, and stars Stephanie Atala, Majdi Machmouchi, Hassiba Freiha and Youssef Boulos. The film is shot by Elias Trad and edited by Marcus D’Arcy. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
The screening of the Daughters of Abdul-Rahman will take place on March 19. Years after escaping a dictated life, four estranged and offbeat sisters are forced to come together to find their suddenly-missing father. In their secret searching journey, secrets are revealed and more.
Written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsieso, Hanan Hillo, Mariam Al Basha, and Khalid Al Tarifi, and features Dina Farouk as the film editor. It is produced by Pan East Media (Saba Mubarak & Aya Wuhoush), Lagoonie Film Production, Arab Media Network and Wika For Film Production and Distribution. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution in the Arab world.
The film project also received multiple funds, including Doha Film Institute development fund, the Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission development and production funds, as well as a fund from CineGouna Platform (post-production) at El Gouna Film Festival.
Egyptian film Trapped will screen on March 19. In Trapped, a group of women coming from different social backgrounds, find themselves trapped by their quest for freedom. The film tackles the broader sense of being trapped sometimes in one’s own thoughts. The entrapment here is not necessarily limited to the concrete walls and shackles, but sometimes it is imposed by the inner conflicts and ideas.
Trapped is directed and produced by Manal Khaled. Screenplay by Manal Khaled and Rasha Azab. It stars Caroline Khalil, Reem Higab, Osama Abo Al Ata, Ne’ma Mohsen, Mona Mokhtar, Tharaa Goubail, Rajwa Hamed, Zeina Mansour, Habiba Effat and Fadel El Garhy. MAD Solutions is in charge of the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
The Anger will screen on March 25, 2022. In post-war Lebanon, Ida, a young Lebanese girl, flees her small village and her alcoholic mother and goes to the big city. There, she starts dating a European man not knowing what is in store for her.
The Anger previously landed its world premiere at Carthage Film Festival (JCC). It is directed by Maria Ivanova Z., who co-wrote it with Olga Artemyeva, and stars Manal Issa, Aurélien Chaussade, Houssam Sabbah, and Julia Kassar.
