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MAD Solutions features seven titles at Aflam Film Festival
16 March 2023
MAD Solutions’ distribution slate will be represented by seven titles at the 10th edition of the Aflam Film Festival, which will be held in France’s oldest city of Marseille from March 17th to the 26th.
The lineup includes six feature-length films and one short — DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN, ALAM, UNDER THE FIG TREES, SOULA, DIRTY, DIFFICULT, DANGEROUS, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, and LOVESICK IN THE WESTBANK.
Learn more about MAD Solutions’ entries at the Aflam Film Festival:
When Zainab wakes up one morning to a shocking discovery with the potential to defame her throughout her neighborhood, she and her three sisters are forced to come together in spite of their vastly disparate lives.
Written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsieso, Hanan Hillo, Mariam Basha, and Khalid Tariffi.
The film is expected to screen on Friday, March 17th at 2 pm
Next up is Said Zagha’s Love Sick In The West Bank, which will screen on Sunday, March 19th at 10 am.
Third in line is Fyzal Boulifa’s feature film THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, which will feature on the same day at 12 pm.
THE DAMNED DON'T CRY follows Fatima-Zahra and her adolescent son Selim as they move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she's caught up in. When Selim discovers the truth about his past, Fatima-Zahra vows to seek a fresh start.
Arriving in Tangier, they each find new opportunities that promise the legitimacy they crave, but not without threatening their fragile love for one another.
The film stars Abdellah El-Hajjouji, Aicha Tebbae, and Antoine Reinartz, and was nominated for the GdA Directors' Award at the Venice International Film Festival.
After that, Erige Sehiri’s social drama Under the Fig Trees will be screened on Thursday, March 23rd at 2 pm.
Co-written by Ghalya Lacroix and Peggy Hamann, the film stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi, and Abdelhak Mrabti.
Taking place over the course of a day, UNDER THE FIG TREES presents an intergenerational dialogue between a group of teens and older folk as they work the summer harvest, catch feelings, attempt to understand each other, and navigate the complicated terrain of building deeper ties.
On the following day, the festival will be screening Firas Khoury's ALAM at 8:30 pm. ALAM follows Tamer and his friends, who lead typical teenage lives, until one day, he is swept off his feet by the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa. As he grows closer to her, Tamer agrees to take part in a mysterious and life-changing operation dubbed ‘Alam.’
Written and directed by Firas Khoury, ALAM stars Mahmood Bakri, Sereen Khass, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Karaki, Ahmad Zaghmouri, and Muhammad Abed Elrahman.
MAD’s penultimate entry in the Aflam Film Festival, SOULA, will feature on Saturday, March 25th at 8 pm. The film follows a single mother cast out by her father, leaving her homeless with her baby. Searching for a safe place to spend the night, the titular Soula finds herself hitchhiking from one car to the next with strangers.
Written, directed, and produced by Salah Issaad, SOULA is co-written by Soula Bahri, whose life story inspired the creation of this movie. The film stars Soula Bahri, Idir Benaibouche, and Franck Yvrai, and was produced by Issaad Film Productions.
MAD’s final entry in the festival is Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, which follows Ahmed — a Syrian refugee roaming the streets of Beirut searching for metal objects to be recycled — who thought he’d find love with Mehdia, an Ethiopian expat. However, in this city, such a story seems almost impossible.
Will the couple be able to reclaim their freedom despite Ahmed’s body slowly turning to metal due to a mysterious illness?
Directed by Wissam Charaf — who co-wrote it with Hala Dabaji and Mariette Désert — the film stars Clara Couturet, Ziad Jallad, Rifaat Tarabay, and Darina Al-Joundi.
Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous is scheduled to be screened on Sunday, March 26th at 8 pm.
The lineup includes six feature-length films and one short — DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN, ALAM, UNDER THE FIG TREES, SOULA, DIRTY, DIFFICULT, DANGEROUS, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, and LOVESICK IN THE WESTBANK.
Learn more about MAD Solutions’ entries at the Aflam Film Festival:
Coming in first in the MAD lineup is DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN, which is set in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Amman. The film follows the single and middle-aged Zainab, who lives a dreary existence as a local seamstress and her father’s keeper.
When Zainab wakes up one morning to a shocking discovery with the potential to defame her throughout her neighborhood, she and her three sisters are forced to come together in spite of their vastly disparate lives.
Written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan, DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN stars Saba Mubarak, Farah Bsieso, Hanan Hillo, Mariam Basha, and Khalid Tariffi.
The film is expected to screen on Friday, March 17th at 2 pm
Next up is Said Zagha’s Love Sick In The West Bank, which will screen on Sunday, March 19th at 10 am.
The film — which features a stellar Arab cast that includes Ali Suliman, Nisreen Faour, Laith Zuaiter, and Nabil Koni — follows a Palestinian family that hosts a young American tourist after a simple misunderstanding. But as chaos unfolds in their village, it doesn't take too long for them to become part of the absurd mayhem that immediately ensues.
Third in line is Fyzal Boulifa’s feature film THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, which will feature on the same day at 12 pm.
THE DAMNED DON'T CRY follows Fatima-Zahra and her adolescent son Selim as they move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she's caught up in. When Selim discovers the truth about his past, Fatima-Zahra vows to seek a fresh start.
Arriving in Tangier, they each find new opportunities that promise the legitimacy they crave, but not without threatening their fragile love for one another.
The film stars Abdellah El-Hajjouji, Aicha Tebbae, and Antoine Reinartz, and was nominated for the GdA Directors' Award at the Venice International Film Festival.
After that, Erige Sehiri’s social drama Under the Fig Trees will be screened on Thursday, March 23rd at 2 pm.
Co-written by Ghalya Lacroix and Peggy Hamann, the film stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi, and Abdelhak Mrabti.
Taking place over the course of a day, UNDER THE FIG TREES presents an intergenerational dialogue between a group of teens and older folk as they work the summer harvest, catch feelings, attempt to understand each other, and navigate the complicated terrain of building deeper ties.
On the following day, the festival will be screening Firas Khoury's ALAM at 8:30 pm. ALAM follows Tamer and his friends, who lead typical teenage lives, until one day, he is swept off his feet by the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa. As he grows closer to her, Tamer agrees to take part in a mysterious and life-changing operation dubbed ‘Alam.’
Written and directed by Firas Khoury, ALAM stars Mahmood Bakri, Sereen Khass, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Karaki, Ahmad Zaghmouri, and Muhammad Abed Elrahman.
MAD’s penultimate entry in the Aflam Film Festival, SOULA, will feature on Saturday, March 25th at 8 pm. The film follows a single mother cast out by her father, leaving her homeless with her baby. Searching for a safe place to spend the night, the titular Soula finds herself hitchhiking from one car to the next with strangers.
Written, directed, and produced by Salah Issaad, SOULA is co-written by Soula Bahri, whose life story inspired the creation of this movie. The film stars Soula Bahri, Idir Benaibouche, and Franck Yvrai, and was produced by Issaad Film Productions.
MAD’s final entry in the festival is Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, which follows Ahmed — a Syrian refugee roaming the streets of Beirut searching for metal objects to be recycled — who thought he’d find love with Mehdia, an Ethiopian expat. However, in this city, such a story seems almost impossible.
Will the couple be able to reclaim their freedom despite Ahmed’s body slowly turning to metal due to a mysterious illness?
Directed by Wissam Charaf — who co-wrote it with Hala Dabaji and Mariette Désert — the film stars Clara Couturet, Ziad Jallad, Rifaat Tarabay, and Darina Al-Joundi.
Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous is scheduled to be screened on Sunday, March 26th at 8 pm.
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