DAUGHTERS OF ABDUL-RAHMAN opens ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema in the USA
15 September 2022:
Jordanian film DAUGHTERS OF ABDUL-RAHMAN, by director Zaid Abu Hamdanopens the 10th edition of ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema in the USA ( Sep 23-29). The film will be screened on Friday, september 23, at 7 pm at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Recently, the film screened at Amman International Film Festival where it had a full house screening, then has been commercially released at Jordanian theatersmarking the third stop of the film’s commercial tour. Moreover, the film was commercially released at Saudi and Kuwaiti theaters and is set to release soon in other Arab countries.
ANA Contemporary Arab cinema is held each year at the Jacob Burns Film Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. It focuseson critically acclaimed and award-winning films by today's best Arab directors.
Recently, DAUGHTERS OF ABDUL-RAHMAN won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film (Golden Lynx Fiction)at FEST – New Directors /New Films Festival, Portugal. Additionally, it opened the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden and won the Audience Award at San Diego Arab Film Festival, USA. It world premiered at Cairo International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award and screened at Beirut International Women Film Festival where it received a Special Mention and the first edition of Red Sea International Film Festival ( Arab Spectacular Section).
On a parallel note, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN received wide acclaim from critics regionally and internationally.“The story raises issues of family life, customs and traditions and specifically the upbringing of girls in Arab societies.” wrote The Arab Weekly. While Ola El Shafie in ElWatan News described the film this way “The film adopts a sarcastic sense of humor in its form and situations, which is rare in Arab Cinema; to find a non-Egyptian film that generates so much laughter."
The film follows the storyline of Zainab who wakes up to a shocking discovery that could defame her in the neighborhood. She quickly calls for her sister’s aid. Yet, fiery Amaal has her own secret struggle and is not having her sister Samah, who is too busy to be there. Meanwhile, Khitam tries to focus on her own mission.
Written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsaiso, Hanan Al Hilo, Mariam Al Basha, and Khalid Al Tarifi. It is produced by Pan East Media (Saba Mubarak & Aya Wuhoush), Lagoonie Film Production, Wika Production and Distribution, and Arab Media Network. MAD Solutions manages the film’s distribution in the Arab world.
The film received several funds, including Doha Film Institute development fund, the Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission development and production funds, as well as a fund from CineGouna Platform (post-production) at El Gouna Film Festival. The film was also selected among the finalist projects at the Tribeca Film Festival - All Access program, and selected for RFC Rawi Screenwriters Lab.
Pan East Media is a Jordanian production house, established in 2011 by Saba Mubarak and Aya Wuhoush with a main objective to create authentic audio-visual content in Jordan and to present first-rate artistic work on both regional and international levels. In 2015, Saba moved the company's headquarters to the UAE and expanded the company's services to include cultural events management, talent management and entertainment production.
Moreover, the company aims to enrich the quality of the content delivered, and throughout the years it has created and developed several scenarios for both cinema and television.
Born and raised in Amman, Jordan, Zaid Abu Hamdan holds an MFA from the New York Film Academy in Hollywood California. Zaid started his career working on international TV shows as an Assistant Director and Producer, including E! Entertainment’s coverage of the Golden Globe and Academy Awards. In addition, Zaid worked as a television reporter for Middle East Broadcast Corporation group (MBC Group) in Hollywood. He also worked on directing reality and scripted shows such as Sesame Street, a competition that shows and mentors the Arab Film Studio program at Image Nation, Abu Dhabi. Since 2009, Zaid has written and directed five award-winning and audience-acclaimed short films, including Bahiya & Mahmoud, which was the official Jordanian submission to the Academy Awards in 2012.
