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YUNAN receives great applause during Arab World premiere at Red Sea International Film Festival
08 December 2025
The Arab World premiere of YUNAN, the highly anticipated second feature by Ameer Fakher Eldin, took place yesterday as part of the Official Competition of the fifth Red Sea International Film Festival (December 4th-13th) to resounding applause.
The premiere was attended by Lebanese actor, director, and producer George Khabbaz and producer Dorothe Beinemeier, with Khabbaz introducing the film on stage. Syrian actor and director Jamal Soliman was among the distinguished guests who graced the event.
Following the screening, audiences engaged in a lively Q&A session with Khabbaz and Beinemeier, underscoring the film’s powerful resonance.
With MAD Distribution handling Arab World distribution, YUNAN continues Fakher Eldin’s ambitious trilogy HOME on the theme of estrangement, which began with his award-winning 2021 debut, THE STRANGER. The film follows Munir, who, after many years in exile, lives haunted by a cryptic story his ailing mother — suffering from Alzheimer’s — keeps repeating. As he travels to a remote island in the North Sea to end his life, an unexpected flood disrupts everything he thought would mark his end.
Written, directed, and edited by MAD Crew director Ameer Fakher Eldin, this life-affirming drama is a Canadian-German-Italian co-production, with Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia also having a hand in its making.
The film had its world premiere to rave reviews at the Berlin International Film Festival and has since screened at over 25 international film festivals, winning numerous awards, including Best Film at the FESCAAAL African, Asian, and Latin American Film Festival in Italy; the Golden Firebird, awarded to George Khabbaz and Hanna Schygulla, at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in China; Best Film and Best Actor at the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival in the Netherlands; Best Cinematography at the Bari International Film & TV Festival in Italy; and Best Film at the Arab Critics Awards for European Films.
It stars Lebanese actor, director, and producer George Khabbaz, who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated film CAPERNAUM, which is notably the highest-grossing Arabic film of all time. The cast also includes German actress Hanna Schygulla, an iconic figure of New German Cinema; Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, known for his leading roles in 200 METERS and the Oscar-nominated Palestinian film PARADISE NOW; and GAME OF THRONES stars Sibel Kekilli and Tom Wlaschiha, along with Lebanese theater thespian Nidal El Ashkar.
The film is scored by the multiple award-winning MAD Crew composer Suad Bushnaq, lensed by Ronald Plante, with production design by Marie-Luise Balzer and sound design by Kuen-Il Song and Marcus Stemler. It is also produced by Dorothe Beinemeier, Catherine Chagnon, Marco Valerio Fusco, Micaela Fusco, Alaa Assad, Hind Anabtawi, and Paola Corvino, who also executive-produced the film with the founders of MAD Solutions, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.
YUNAN was brought to life through the combined efforts of Red Balloon Film, Microclimat Films, Intramovies, Fresco Films, Metafora Productions, and Tabi360.
It was supported by the Red Sea Fund, the Jordanian Royal Film Commission, MOIN Film Fund, the Council of Europe’s Eurimages, Telefilm Canada, and SODEC.
Born in 1991 in Kyiv, Ukraine, to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights, Ameer Fakher Eldin is a writer and director whose work has earned international acclaim. His debut feature, THE STRANGER, premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Edipo Re Award, and was later selected as Palestine’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. The film went on to continue its success at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival, winning the Best Arab Film Award and the Shadi Abd El Salam Prize for Best Film in the International Critics’ Week Competition. It also received recognition at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with a nomination for Best Director and a win for Best Cinematography.
Currently, Fakher Eldin is working on the final installment, NOSTALGIA: A TALE IN ITS FIRST CHAPTERS, which is a joint international production between Syria, Palestine, Germany, and Italy and was awarded the Red Sea Fund for Development.
The premiere was attended by Lebanese actor, director, and producer George Khabbaz and producer Dorothe Beinemeier, with Khabbaz introducing the film on stage. Syrian actor and director Jamal Soliman was among the distinguished guests who graced the event.
Following the screening, audiences engaged in a lively Q&A session with Khabbaz and Beinemeier, underscoring the film’s powerful resonance.
With MAD Distribution handling Arab World distribution, YUNAN continues Fakher Eldin’s ambitious trilogy HOME on the theme of estrangement, which began with his award-winning 2021 debut, THE STRANGER. The film follows Munir, who, after many years in exile, lives haunted by a cryptic story his ailing mother — suffering from Alzheimer’s — keeps repeating. As he travels to a remote island in the North Sea to end his life, an unexpected flood disrupts everything he thought would mark his end.
Written, directed, and edited by MAD Crew director Ameer Fakher Eldin, this life-affirming drama is a Canadian-German-Italian co-production, with Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia also having a hand in its making.
The film had its world premiere to rave reviews at the Berlin International Film Festival and has since screened at over 25 international film festivals, winning numerous awards, including Best Film at the FESCAAAL African, Asian, and Latin American Film Festival in Italy; the Golden Firebird, awarded to George Khabbaz and Hanna Schygulla, at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in China; Best Film and Best Actor at the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival in the Netherlands; Best Cinematography at the Bari International Film & TV Festival in Italy; and Best Film at the Arab Critics Awards for European Films.
It stars Lebanese actor, director, and producer George Khabbaz, who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated film CAPERNAUM, which is notably the highest-grossing Arabic film of all time. The cast also includes German actress Hanna Schygulla, an iconic figure of New German Cinema; Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, known for his leading roles in 200 METERS and the Oscar-nominated Palestinian film PARADISE NOW; and GAME OF THRONES stars Sibel Kekilli and Tom Wlaschiha, along with Lebanese theater thespian Nidal El Ashkar.
The film is scored by the multiple award-winning MAD Crew composer Suad Bushnaq, lensed by Ronald Plante, with production design by Marie-Luise Balzer and sound design by Kuen-Il Song and Marcus Stemler. It is also produced by Dorothe Beinemeier, Catherine Chagnon, Marco Valerio Fusco, Micaela Fusco, Alaa Assad, Hind Anabtawi, and Paola Corvino, who also executive-produced the film with the founders of MAD Solutions, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.
YUNAN was brought to life through the combined efforts of Red Balloon Film, Microclimat Films, Intramovies, Fresco Films, Metafora Productions, and Tabi360.
It was supported by the Red Sea Fund, the Jordanian Royal Film Commission, MOIN Film Fund, the Council of Europe’s Eurimages, Telefilm Canada, and SODEC.
Born in 1991 in Kyiv, Ukraine, to Syrian parents from the occupied Golan Heights, Ameer Fakher Eldin is a writer and director whose work has earned international acclaim. His debut feature, THE STRANGER, premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Edipo Re Award, and was later selected as Palestine’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. The film went on to continue its success at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival, winning the Best Arab Film Award and the Shadi Abd El Salam Prize for Best Film in the International Critics’ Week Competition. It also received recognition at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with a nomination for Best Director and a win for Best Cinematography.
Currently, Fakher Eldin is working on the final installment, NOSTALGIA: A TALE IN ITS FIRST CHAPTERS, which is a joint international production between Syria, Palestine, Germany, and Italy and was awarded the Red Sea Fund for Development.
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