DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN screens in UAE, Palestine, and Egypt
05 February 2023
Zaid Abu Hamdan’s four-time-award-winning filmDAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN will have three screenings in February 2023 as part of the film's long-standing successful tour around Arab countries.
The screenings will begin on Wednesday, February 4th, at the Cairo Film Society in Egypt, followed by the Orthodox Arab College-School in Palestine on Saturday, February 7th, and the UAE's Cultural Foundation on Thursday, February 23rd.
Zaid Abu Hamdan's DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN was commercially featured in Palestine at Al-Kasaba theatre in Ramallah after a successful showing during the ninth edition of Palestine Cinema Days, which lasted from November 1st to November 7th, 2022.
DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN's triumph in the Arab world began with its premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere and won Youssef Cherif Rizkallah’s Audience Award. Moreover, it was featured in the Beirut International Women Film Festival, where it received a special mention, as well as Amman International Film Festival - Awal Film, where it was well received, selling out its tickets as soon as they were available.
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 Amaal’s aid. However, fiery Amaal has her own problems with their other sister Samah – who is too busy to be there – while Khitam, the fourth sister, is busy with her own goals in life.
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.
Additionally, the flick competed for the prestigious General Entertainment Authority’s Joy Awards—the largest ceremony to recognize and honor artistic achievements in the Arab world.
DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN had received wide critical acclaim, with Heba Yassin saying, “The filmmaker appears to have read and researched psychology to the maximum extent feasible in order to genuinely reflect these women' inner identities, revealing the flaws of Arab society by exposing the nature of the Arab lady, her pain, and her internal and external conflicts." In the meantime, Esraa Al Radaideh, described it as “a film that resembles us.”
Previously, the movie received the Audience Award at four prestigious festivals – the Middle East Now Film Festival in Italy, the FEST – New Directors/New Films Festival in Portugal, and the Arab Film Festival in San Diego. Furthermore, it was featured at the 2022 Festival Internacional de Cinema de Tarragona in Spain, Arab Film Festival in the US city of San Francisco, and the Arab Film Festival in Zurich.
The film was produced by Pan East Media, Lagoonie Film Production, Wika Production and Distribution, and the Arab Media Network. Meanwhile, MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production are co-distributing the film in the Arab world.
The film was financed by several funds, including the Doha Film Institute Development Fund, the Jordan Royal Film Commission’s Film Fund, and a fund from the CineGouna Platform of the El-Gouna Film Festival.
It was also selected among the finalist projects at the Tribeca Film Festival-All Access Program and was selected for the RFC Rawi Screenwriters Lab.
Pan East Media is a Jordanian production house established in 2011 by Saba Mubarak and Aya Wuhoush with the main objective of creating authentic audio-visual content in Jordan and presenting first-rate artistic work on both regional and international levels.
In 2015, Saba moved the company's headquarters to the UAE and added talent management and entertainment production to its list of services.