Written and directed by Bassel Ghandour, the film stars Emad Azmi, Baraka Rahmani, Munther Rayahneh, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadira Omran, and Nadim Rimawi.
Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s The Alleys will be released tomorrow, October 6, in UAE theatres, as part of Mad Solutions’ release plan in the Arab World.
Recently, the company released the film in its home country of Jordan, following its screenings in 21 theatres in Saudi Arabia, with more screenings scheduled in other Arab countries.
The Alleys will also open the first edition of Arab Cinema Week by Cinema Akil on October 7.
The film recently received the Audience Award and Special Mention at Sweden’s Malmo Arab Film Festival, as well as the Grand Prix du Jury at the Annonay Film Festival, France. The Alleys was nominated for four Critics Awards for Arab Films, which were presented by the Arab Cinema Center on the fringes of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
The film is written and directed by Bassel Ghandour and stars Emad Azmi, Baraka Rahmani, Munther Rayahneh, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadira Omran, and Nadim Rimawi. The film is produced by Bayt Al Shawareb (Yousef Abed Al-Nabi), The Imaginarium Films (Rula Nasser), and co-produced by Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad). Mad Solutions handles the film’s distribution across the Arab World, while Elle Driver (France) handles the international sales.
The Alleys was a critical success at dozens of international film festivals across Europe, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the BFI London Film Festival. The film also had its Arab debut at the Red Sea International Film Festival, as well as its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande competition, when it became the festival’s first Jordanian feature film to be selected.
The story is set in East Amman’s gossip-ridden, hazardous neighbourhood, where a young hustler will go to any length to be with his hidden sweetheart, but her merciless mother will not allow it. When an extortionist catches the couple in the act, the mother seeks the assistance of a gangster to put an end to it all… but things don’t go as planned.
The film received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award of the Eastern Promises programme at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czechia. Furthermore, it won two awards for films in post-production at the Cairo Film Connection, the co-financing platform of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) and received support from The Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission, Doha Film Institute (Qatar), and the Red Sea International Film Festival (KSA). During the development phase, the film was aided by EAVE Producers Workshop, Rawi Screenwriters lab, Dubai Film Connection, and The Sorfond Pitching Forum, which is organised by the Norwegian South Film Fund.
