A Private Screening at Taj Mall in the Presence of Critics and members of the Press
THE ALLEYS Continues Screening in Jordan & Saudi Arabia for the 2nd Consecutive Week
17 June 2022:
Following last week’s successful release and the massive turnout, feature film THE ALLEYS by writer-director Bassel Ghandour continues screening in Jordan and Saudi Arabia for the second week in a row. In collaboration with MAD Solutions and Arab Media Network, the Royal Film Comission-Jordan held a private screening at Taj Mall, in the presence of the cast and crew of the film along with figures of media and the press.
In partnership with Arab Media Network,THE ALLEYS releases in Jordan at Grand Cinemas (City Mall), Prime Cinemas (Abdali Mall and Baraka Mall) and Taj Cinemas (Taj Mall). In addition, the film hit 21 theatres in its first-week screening in Saudi Arabia, held in partnership with Rowad Media, a production and distribution firm.
“Jordanian film THE ALLEYS is a bold portrayal of social issues in an atmoshpere of brutal realism,” wrote film critic Khaled Sameh on the Jordanian news website Addustour. “ In THE ALLEYS, we see the narrow alleys that is full of twists and turns, and the different lines of conspiracy in a film that is based on a stong script featuring complex but intertwined web of individual stories,” wrote Israa Alrdaida on the Jordanian news website Alghad.
Recently, the official Facebook page of THE ALLEYS unveiled the film's teaser trailer, which amassed around 1 million views. Watch the trailer here:
The film just 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. The ALLEYS was nominated for four Critics Awards for Arab Films, which were presented by Arab Cinema Center on the fringes of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
THE ALLEYS was a big 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, only to become the festival's first Jordanian feature film.
It is also worth noting that the film was widely praised by critics and international websites such as 'Screen Daily,' 'Backseat Mafia,' and the well-known American magazine 'PopMatters,' as well as the British website 'The Upcoming,' and the Swiss newspaper 'Corriere Del Ticino,' among others, who described it as "Fascinating," "Impressive," "Epic," "Exciting," and "Quite memorable"
The story is set in East Amman's gossip-ridden, hazardous neighborhood, 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 project of THE ALLEYS received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award of the Eastern Promises program 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 organized by The Norwegian South Film Fund.
THE ALLEYS 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.
Director Bassel Ghandour co-wrote and produced Theeb, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. It also won the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Debut in 2016. The ALLEYS is his directorial debut, as well as his first screenplay.
