The films will compete for Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes, Best Student International Short, and the Bridging the Borders Jury Award.
MAD Solutions has sent two films from its short film slate to screen and compete at the 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival (ShortFest), running until June 24 in California. Majdi El-Omari’s Mar Mama and Faris Alrjoob’s The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry will represent the company at the festival.
The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry will compete for two jury awards: Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes and Best Student International Short. The film will be screened on Wednesday, June 19 at 2:30 pm at Regal 1.
Meanwhile, Mar Mama is in the running for the Bridging the Borders Jury Award and is set to screen on Thursday, June 20 at 3 pm at Regal 6.
Alrjoob’s Jordanian thriller The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry was recently released on streaming giant MUBI, making it the first Jordanian short in MUBI’s library. It has also screened at the Independent Film Festival in Boston and the Malmö Arab Film Festival, and has won the Best Connecting Cultures Film Award at the Ghent International Short Film Festival and the El Gouna Film Festival’s Silver Star for Short Films.
The romantic thriller follows a haunted Ida, who travels to the site of her partner’s disappearance in an attempt to feel his presence one last time and say goodbye. Directed, written, and co-produced by Faris Alrjoob, The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry also features contributions from Matthew LaPaglia, Luisa Stricker, and Luma Al Hamarneh. The cast includes Mohamed Nizar, Clara Schwinning, journalist-actor Ahmed Shihab Eldin, and Anwar Khalil, with cinematography by Mahmoud Belakhel and editing by Benedikt Strick.
Majdi El-Omari’s Palestinian drama Mar Mama recently held a special screening at Tulane University in New Orleans and has been shown at the Annaba Mediterranean Film Festival, the Chicago Palestine Film Festival, and the Houston Palestine Film Festival. The film recently won the Best Fiction Short Award at the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts, where it held its MENA premiere as part of the festival’s Short Film Competition.
Mar Mama, which world-premiered at Ireland’s Indie Cork Festival and screened at Italy’s Al Ard Film Festival, tells the story of a young girl haunted by her mother’s death and the recurring attacks on her city. As her father tries to distract her by creating a stop-motion film, reality intrudes, but she finds solace in her imagination and fantasies. The film is a collaboration between Marsam 301 and Phoenix Films, with support from the Palestinian Ministry of Culture through the Palestinian Cultural Fund and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
Written, directed, edited, and produced by El-Omari, the film features cinematography by Ashraf Dowani and stars Palestinian actor Ziad Bakri and Lana Abu Srour.