Winner of Three Awards at Venice International Film Festival

Mohamed Diab’s Amira Receives a Special Mention at Carthage Film Festival (JCC)

07 November 2021:

Amira by director Mohamed Diab won a Special Mention of the Jury at the Official Competition Narrative Feature Films of the 32nd Carthage Film Festival (JCC) in Tunisia, which concluded its events Saturday night. This is the second time that director Mohamed Diab’s nails an award from JCC. 5 years ago, his Clash grabbed 3 awards at Carthage Film Festival.

Moshira Farouk Bahar, Cultural and Theatrical Distribution Manager at MAD Solutions, which handles the film’s distribution across the Arab world, received the award.

Landing 3 screenings during the festival, Amira witnessed a wide attendance by audience, critics, and members of media, gaining a great critical acclaim.

It is worth mentioning that the film landed its Arab world premiere at El Gouna Film Festival a few weeks ago, where it witnessed a massive attendance by the audience and had two sold-out screenings. Previously winning three awards at Venice International Film Festival, Amira gained international acclaim from critics and audience alike, who applauded the film’s director, cast, and creators, and received a 7-minute standing ovation upon its world premiere at the festival.

The three awards are Lanterna Magica Award, presented by Cinecircoli Giovanili Socioculturali (CGS), Enrico Fulchignoni Award, presented by Conseil International du Cinéma, de la Télévision et de la Communication Audiovisuelle (CICT-UNESCO), and 10th INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue.

Amira, a 17-year-old Palestinian, was conceived with the smuggled sperm of her imprisoned father, Nawar. Although their relationship since birth has been restricted to prison visits, he remains her hero. His absence in her life is overcompensated with love and affection from those surrounding her.  But when a failed attempt to conceive another child reveals Nawar’s infertility, Amira’s world turns upside down.

Amira features a stellar Pan-Arab cast, including Saba Mubarak, Ali Suliman, and Tara Abboud, who lands her first cinematic leading role as Amira, as well as Kais Nashif and Waleed Zuaiter. The film is written by the trio Mohamed, Khaled, and Sherine Diab and edited by Ahmed Hafez who previously worked with Mohamed Diab on Clash film.

 The film is produced by Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy), Agora Audiovisuals (Mona Abdelwahab), Acamedia Pictures (Moez Masoud), in co- production with Taher Media Production (Youssef El Taher) and The Imaginarium Films (Rula Nasser). Also, Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, Amira Diab and Sarah Gohar are the film’s producers, Hisham El Araby is the executive producer, and Daniel Ziskind is the associate producer. The film has previously received fund from The Royal Film Commission Jordan – RFC. Pyramide Films is in charge of the international sales, and its marketing is handled by MAD Solutions, which also handles the film’s distribution across the Arab world along with Lagoonie Film Production.