The Arab Cinema Center has published this year's “Golden 101”, its annual list of the 101 most influential figures in Arab cinema in its 22nd edition of Arab Cinema Magazine, which is being circulated at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival and can be accessed on the Marché du Film website.
Celebrating individuals and institutions who have made the most significant impact on the Arab film industry over the past twelve months, this year's Golden 101 comprises of 13 directors, 16 producers, 14 actors, five crew members, 18 distributors from 12 institutions, 12 executives from 10 governmental cinema institutions, 11 executives from seven video-on-demand platforms, 11 representatives from seven festivals, and seven executives from film financing institutions.
Commenting on this year's Golden 101 list, Colin Brown, Mad Solutions' Managing Partner for International Operations said; “These are the artists, artisans, and power brokers who have distinguished themselves this past year – and the rest of the world should pay attention to them if...
Celebrating individuals and institutions who have made the most significant impact on the Arab film industry over the past twelve months, this year's Golden 101 comprises of 13 directors, 16 producers, 14 actors, five crew members, 18 distributors from 12 institutions, 12 executives from 10 governmental cinema institutions, 11 executives from seven video-on-demand platforms, 11 representatives from seven festivals, and seven executives from film financing institutions.
Commenting on this year's Golden 101 list, Colin Brown, Mad Solutions' Managing Partner for International Operations said; “These are the artists, artisans, and power brokers who have distinguished themselves this past year – and the rest of the world should pay attention to them if...
- 5/17/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
It’s a momentous Cannes for Cairo-based film professionals Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as they mark the 15th anniversary of the creation of marketing and distribution company Mad Solutions and the 10th anniversary of spin-off the Arab Cinema Center (Acc).
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
Under these banners, the pair have been at the forefront of promoting Arab cinema internationally and played a part in growing its prominence on the world stage.
Acc kicks off its 10th Cannes program on Friday with a panel entitled “The Arab New Wave: The Actors” on the market’s Plage des Palmes venue.
Speakers on the panel will include iconic Egyptian actress Yousra, Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia General Manager Zeinab Abu Alsamh, top Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abi Rashed, Egyptian superstar Ahmed Malek and Yagoub Alfarhan, star of Saudi Arabia’s first film in Official Selection Norah as well as casting director Cassandra Han.
The swanky location and...
- 5/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Newly launched Dubai-based sales company Mad World has acquired worldwide rights to Egyptian director Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, a tense African migrant drama shooting later this year in Egypt.
The title joins the inaugural slate of Mad World, as the Arab cinema-focused sales arm of Mena distributor and talent agency Mad Solutions gears up for its Cannes Market debut next week.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away revolves around the story of Aisha, a 26-year-old African immigrant caregiver residing in Ain-shams, a Cairo neighborhood with a large African migrant community.
The film explores the intricate dynamics of a world where the authorities’ indifference to the violent tensions between Egyptians and various African nationalities has allowed different gangs to seize control. Aisha’s situation turns sour after one of these gangs offers protection in exchange for a favor.
Egypt-based South Sudanese model Buliana Simona plays Aisha in...
The title joins the inaugural slate of Mad World, as the Arab cinema-focused sales arm of Mena distributor and talent agency Mad Solutions gears up for its Cannes Market debut next week.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away revolves around the story of Aisha, a 26-year-old African immigrant caregiver residing in Ain-shams, a Cairo neighborhood with a large African migrant community.
The film explores the intricate dynamics of a world where the authorities’ indifference to the violent tensions between Egyptians and various African nationalities has allowed different gangs to seize control. Aisha’s situation turns sour after one of these gangs offers protection in exchange for a favor.
Egypt-based South Sudanese model Buliana Simona plays Aisha in...
- 5/10/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Pan-Arab distributor Mad Solutions is expanding operations by setting up Mad World, a Dubai-based company dedicated to selling Arab movies internationally that will officially launch in Cannes.
Touted as Arab cinema’s first global sales outfit, Mad World segues from Mad Solution’s first foray in the international distribution arena last year with Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia” which they sold widely after it’s splashy launch from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.
In addition to acquiring global rights to an increasing number of international co-productions, the Cairo-based studio has been stepping up its involvement in packaging Arabic projects with global market potential.
Besides fresh product, Mad World will be handling sales on an extensive library of recent festival award-winners, including shorts, and a back-catalog of titles comprising regional theatrical and streaming titles, many of which have not reached audiences outside the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
Touted as Arab cinema’s first global sales outfit, Mad World segues from Mad Solution’s first foray in the international distribution arena last year with Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia” which they sold widely after it’s splashy launch from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.
In addition to acquiring global rights to an increasing number of international co-productions, the Cairo-based studio has been stepping up its involvement in packaging Arabic projects with global market potential.
Besides fresh product, Mad World will be handling sales on an extensive library of recent festival award-winners, including shorts, and a back-catalog of titles comprising regional theatrical and streaming titles, many of which have not reached audiences outside the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
- 5/9/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
New Arab Cinema Focused Int’l Sales Company Mad World Unveils Inaugural Slate Ahead Of Cannes Launch
Top Middle East and North African independent distributor and talent agency Mad Solutions is adding a new string to its bow with the launch of Arab cinema-focused international sales company Mad World.
The Dubai-based company will make its market debut in Cannes.
Titles on its packed inaugural slate include French-Egyptian-Palestinian director Rani Massalha’s The Return of the Prodigal Son and Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas’s Thank You For Banking With Us. (scroll down for full line-up).
Mad World will be spearheaded by Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, as well as third Managing Partner, Colin Brown, who will all assume Co-President titles.
“Until now, Arab filmmakers have been at the mercy of an international sales ecosystem with preconceived notions about what Arab cinema should be in order to travel,” commented Brown.
“We intend to challenge those limitations, exploring all manner of distribution options around the world, even unconventional ones,...
The Dubai-based company will make its market debut in Cannes.
Titles on its packed inaugural slate include French-Egyptian-Palestinian director Rani Massalha’s The Return of the Prodigal Son and Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas’s Thank You For Banking With Us. (scroll down for full line-up).
Mad World will be spearheaded by Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, as well as third Managing Partner, Colin Brown, who will all assume Co-President titles.
“Until now, Arab filmmakers have been at the mercy of an international sales ecosystem with preconceived notions about what Arab cinema should be in order to travel,” commented Brown.
“We intend to challenge those limitations, exploring all manner of distribution options around the world, even unconventional ones,...
- 5/9/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Pan-Arab outfit Mad Solutions has launched international sales company Mad World, which will introduce its first slate of titles and executive team at the Cannes market next week.
The Dubai-based firm will handle worldwide sales and international distribution of new Arab-language feature films, led by Mad Solutions’ co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as well as the company’s managing partner Colin Brown. All three are co-presidents of Mad World, with Karkouti serving as CEO.
Also joining Mad World are European executives Edin De Liancourt as vice president of sales and acquisitions and Jeanne Deny as director of sales and acquisitions.
The Dubai-based firm will handle worldwide sales and international distribution of new Arab-language feature films, led by Mad Solutions’ co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as well as the company’s managing partner Colin Brown. All three are co-presidents of Mad World, with Karkouti serving as CEO.
Also joining Mad World are European executives Edin De Liancourt as vice president of sales and acquisitions and Jeanne Deny as director of sales and acquisitions.
- 5/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Olga Kurylenko is set to lead the sci-fi action-thriller “Unify.”
Directed and written by Jonathan Hopkins (“Slumber”), the film is set in a dystopian future and tells the story of a refugee mother who holds the key to humanity’s salvation in the war against A.I. but is being hunted by a technological enemy.
Myriad has acquired rights for the action-adventure drama from BoxFly and Ostara Pictures, and will launch the film to buyers at this month’s European Film Market, which runs alongside the Berlin Film Festival. The film will begin production in October.
BoxFly and Ostara Pictures will produce “Unify” with Haydn Pryce-Jenkins and Raimund Berens. Executive producers are BoxFly’s Colin Brown, Ostara Pictures’ Graham Bryan and Myriad Pictures’ Kirk D’Amico and Brian Nitzkin. Shakyra Dowling has come on board as casting director.
From a story by Hopkins, Charlie Macpherson and Jennie Gruner, “Unify” warns of a biological A.
Directed and written by Jonathan Hopkins (“Slumber”), the film is set in a dystopian future and tells the story of a refugee mother who holds the key to humanity’s salvation in the war against A.I. but is being hunted by a technological enemy.
Myriad has acquired rights for the action-adventure drama from BoxFly and Ostara Pictures, and will launch the film to buyers at this month’s European Film Market, which runs alongside the Berlin Film Festival. The film will begin production in October.
BoxFly and Ostara Pictures will produce “Unify” with Haydn Pryce-Jenkins and Raimund Berens. Executive producers are BoxFly’s Colin Brown, Ostara Pictures’ Graham Bryan and Myriad Pictures’ Kirk D’Amico and Brian Nitzkin. Shakyra Dowling has come on board as casting director.
From a story by Hopkins, Charlie Macpherson and Jennie Gruner, “Unify” warns of a biological A.
- 2/7/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood may be reassessing its ties to Saudi Arabia following the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. But at a big international film industry conference underway in the Middle East, there are no signs anyone else is thinking about pulling back from what continues to be considered a global top 10 movie market in the making.
More than 500 film industry delegates from 45 countries are gathered at Dubai’s Grand Hyatt Hotel for the first edition of the Mena Cinema Forum, where “a lot of the discussions were about Saudi Arabia,” said the event’s director, Leila Masinaei. But Masinaei noted that, while some people did address the Khashoggi scandal, “everyone is trying to keep politics and business separate.”
Khashoggi’s disappearance inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 prompted a number of foreign media moguls, including several U.S. executives, to pull out of last week’s Saudi government-backed investment conference in Riyadh.
More than 500 film industry delegates from 45 countries are gathered at Dubai’s Grand Hyatt Hotel for the first edition of the Mena Cinema Forum, where “a lot of the discussions were about Saudi Arabia,” said the event’s director, Leila Masinaei. But Masinaei noted that, while some people did address the Khashoggi scandal, “everyone is trying to keep politics and business separate.”
Khashoggi’s disappearance inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 prompted a number of foreign media moguls, including several U.S. executives, to pull out of last week’s Saudi government-backed investment conference in Riyadh.
- 10/29/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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