The film has received significant support, including grants from the El Gouna Film Festival and recognition from the CineGouna Platform.
Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas’ debut feature film, Thank You for Banking With Us!, is set to make its world premiere in the official competition at the 68th BFI London Film Festival, taking place from October 9 to 20.
The drama explores themes of female empowerment through the story of sisters Mariam and Noura, who, after their father’s death, devise a plan to secure a large sum of money he left behind. Their scheme aims to outmanoeuvre their brother, who is legally entitled to half of the inheritance.
Laila Abbas described the film as a narrative about the strength of womanhood and the importance of emotional and physical unity among women. “It’s a story about sisters who, having endured their own tragedies and heartbreaks, come together to become stronger,” she said.
Thank You for Banking With Us! is a joint German-Palestinian production, written, directed and produced by Abbas through her Ramallah-based company Young Oak Productions. Co-produced by Hanna Atallah of Palestine Cinema Days and Roshanak Behesht Nedjad of Berlin’s In Good Company Films, the film is being handled for worldwide sales and distribution by MAD World.
MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production, the Cairo and Riyadh-based production entity, have also teamed up to co-produce Thank You for Banking With Us!
Thank You for Banking With Us! has received support thus far from the El Gouna Film Festival in 2018 through four $10,000 grants from ART, Cedars Productions, O Three Productions and Metafora respectively. Moreover, it won the In-Development Award from the CineGouna Platform and was supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture as well as the Doha Film Institute’s 2023 edition of the Qumra Initiative.
With additional funding from German film funds (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg), and the Hubert Bals Plus Europe of International Film Festival Rotterdam, Thank You for Banking With Us! stands as a testament to the power of collective artistic vision. Notably, it was also among the winners of the Red Sea Fund’s third cycle.
