MAD Solutions to screen 2 shorts at Cinematographic Encounters Palestine: to Film Is To Exist
29 November 2023
MAD Solutions’ distribution slate will be represented by two short films at the 12th edition of Cinematographic Encounters Palestine: To Film Is To Exist, which will be held from November 29th to December 3rd in Switzerland — Ward Kayyal’s HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME and Dima Hamdan’s THE BOMB.
Both shorts will be screening in the same short film package on Saturday, December 2nd at 4:00 pm at Sputnik.
Ward Kayyal’s Palestinian drama HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME tells the story of Hamza — a middle-aged man who refuses to abandon a routine he has kept since his release from Israeli jail; every day, he goes into the woods to hunt a lion that the locals don't believe exists.
The film — which world premiered at the Cairo International Film Festival — is headlined by award-winning actor Kamel El-Basha, alongside Ruba Blal, Motaz Malhes, and Khulood Basel.
HAMZA: CHASING THE GHOST CHASING ME won the Jury Award for Best Short Film at the Amman International Film Festival and Best Director at Rotterdam Arab Film Festival.
Meanwhile, Dima Hamdan’s THE BOMB stars Tarik Al-Saies, Rawa Darweisch, Friederike Frerichs, and Celine Meral.
The short revolves around Wasim and his mother, who haven't been getting along for a while. When the police ask them to evacuate their home in Berlin for one night to excavate a World War II bomb that’s been discovered in the area, more feelings of anger and hurt come to the surface.
THE BOMB won the Best Female Director award at the Ayodhya Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli.