Three short films and four features have been submitted by MAD Solutions this year.
Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury’s feature film Alam and Under the Fig Trees by Erige Sehiri — two films from MAD Solutions’ distribution slate — have bagged a couple of awards at the Swedish Malmö Arab Film Festival, with the former winning the Best Director Award, which the director was in attendance to receive, and the latter earning a Special Mention.
Alam follows a Palestinian-Israeli teen who undergoes a political awakening sparked by a pretty, outspoken girl from his high school class, who spurs him to join a group of classmates in a risky flag operation on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day. Lead actor Mahmoud Bakri won a share of top acting honours for his performance, along with Maher Elkheir, the star of Ali Cherri’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player The Dam.
The film is written and directed by Khoury and stars Mahmood Bakri, Sereen Khass, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Karaki, Ahmad Zaghmouri, and Muhammad Abed Elrahman.
Alam is co-distributed by MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production across the Arab world.
The film is produced by MPM Film, Paprika Films, Philistine Films, Red Sea Film Festival Foundation, Metafora Productions and Lacydon Bay Productions.
Under The Fig Trees tells the story of a woman, Melek, and her friends as they work in fruit orchards during the summer for a number of reasons, including paying for their studies, preparing for their wedding, and helping out their families. The film received seven more awards at the Final Cut in Venice workshop.
The film is directed by Sehiri and co-written by Ghalya Lacroix and Peggy Hamann. It stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi and Abdelhak Mrabti.
