HUDA’S SALON opens Middle East Now Festival in Florence

25 September 2022:

Feature film HUDA’S SALON by Hany Abu-Assad  joined the 13th edition of Middle East Now Festival which kicks off on 4 – 9 October in Florence, Italy. The screening will be on Tuesday, 4 October, at 9 pm (GMT+2) Florence time. 
 
Recently, the film’s official pages shared the film’s  official trailer on Facebook and Instagram. You can watch it through the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/HudasSalon/videos/1562247807567697
 
HUDA’S SALON was screened at Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival where it received a Special Jury Prize, Beirut International Women Film Festival, where it received a Special Jury Mention, and it opened Reel Palestine Film Festival. The film landed its Arab world premiere at Red Sea International Film Festival, Saudi. The film's lead actress, Maisa Abd Elhadi, won Best Actress at Critics' Awards for Arab Films presented by Arab Cinema Center.
 
Internationally, HUDA’S SALON was screened in several US cinemas and joined ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema Festival in USA. It also landed its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival. It was also featured at the Nashville Film Festival in the US and Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain.
 
HUDA’S SALON garnered international acclaim, especially that it was praised by world’s leading media, in which Wendy Ide said in Screendaily “This is a return to form and to more familiar territory for Abu-Assad”. “Huda’s Salon” doesn’t waste a second… zooming from easy chatter to absolutely horrifying drama” said Erbland through IndeWire. “Nearly every scene takes the form of a single unbroken shot, a technique that sometimes pulls you in and sometimes merely calls attention to its own virtuosity,” stated The Los Angeles Times. While Variety stated that“With wisdom and calmness, Manal Awad embodied Huda's escalating situation during the investigation scene.”
 
Based on real events, HUDA’S SALON is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller, where two women fight for their freedom. Reem, a young mother who is married to a jealous man, goes to Huda’s salon in Bethlehem for a haircut and an attentive ear. However, this ordinary visit turns sour after Huda puts Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her to work for the secret service of the occupiers and betrays her people.
 
Written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad, HUDA’S SALON stars Ali Suliman, Manal Awad and Maisa Abd Elhadi. The film  is produced by H&A Production (Hany Abu-Assad and Amira Diab), Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy) and co- produced by MAD Solutions (Maher Diab and Alaa Karkouti),and Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad), while Daniel Ziskind of Film Clinic is the film’s co-producer. The film is also co-produced by Key Films, Cocoon and Philistine Films. MEMENTO INTERNATIONAL handles worldwide distribution, while MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production handle the film’s distribution across the Arab world.
 
Palestinian screenwriter and director Hany Abu-Assad is one of the most eminent Arab directors. His filmography includes several exceptional Arab films that gained exceptional international recognition, such as PARADISE NOW (2005), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and the film OMAR (2013) that also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  In 2017, Abu-Assad directed THE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, which opened the 39th edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). HUDA’S SALON is his latest feature film.