Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s “Aïcha” has been acquired by several distributors ahead of its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival. The Party Film Sales is handling international sales. Variety debuts its trailer here.
Distributors attached include Cineart for Benelux, La Aventura Audiovisual for Spain, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Jour2fête for France, I Wonder for Italy and Hakka Distribution for Tunisia. Cinewaves has taken theatrical rights for Middle East and North Africa, and Sunnyland Film, a member of A.R.T. Group, has taken digital sales rights for Middle East and North Africa.
The film follows Aya, who is in her late twenties. She feels trapped in her life with her parents in southern Tunisia, seeing no prospects for change. One day, the minivan she commutes in daily between her town and the hotel where she works crashes, leaving her as the sole survivor. Realizing this could be...
Distributors attached include Cineart for Benelux, La Aventura Audiovisual for Spain, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Jour2fête for France, I Wonder for Italy and Hakka Distribution for Tunisia. Cinewaves has taken theatrical rights for Middle East and North Africa, and Sunnyland Film, a member of A.R.T. Group, has taken digital sales rights for Middle East and North Africa.
The film follows Aya, who is in her late twenties. She feels trapped in her life with her parents in southern Tunisia, seeing no prospects for change. One day, the minivan she commutes in daily between her town and the hotel where she works crashes, leaving her as the sole survivor. Realizing this could be...
- 8/27/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Some of the most powerful figures in Saudi film gathered at the Ritz Carlton in Jeddah for a cocktail party hosted by Film AlUla and Stampede Ventures in partnership with Variety last night. Figures such as Saudi producer and film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy were spotted along with Zeinab Abu Alsamh, general manager of Mbc Studios Saudi Arabia.
Stampede Ventures head Greg Silverman was celebrating the $350 million three-year deal just signed with Film AlUla, which will bring 10 projects to the region. He told Variety: “As somebody who loves film, coming here and seeing films celebrated this way is excellent. We’ve been looking for a home for our slate of films and we’re so excited to have the possibility of working with AlUla. They have state-of-the-art studios and, for our talent, it’s an incredible place for them to be when they’re not on set.
Stampede Ventures head Greg Silverman was celebrating the $350 million three-year deal just signed with Film AlUla, which will bring 10 projects to the region. He told Variety: “As somebody who loves film, coming here and seeing films celebrated this way is excellent. We’ve been looking for a home for our slate of films and we’re so excited to have the possibility of working with AlUla. They have state-of-the-art studios and, for our talent, it’s an incredible place for them to be when they’re not on set.
- 12/4/2023
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Japan has dominated this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), with German filmmaker Wim Wenders’ latest Tokyo-set pic and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car follow-up taking the top prizes.
Wenders’ Cannes competition title Perfect Days won Apsa’s Best Film award, while Hamaguchi’s enigmatic Venice title Evil Does Not Exist nabbed the Jury Grand Prize this evening at the Australian ceremony.
“It is with great pleasure and pride that my Japanese producers Takuma Takasaki and Koji Yanai and myself received the news that our film Perfect Days was awarded Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards,” Wenders said, accepting the award via video message.
He added: “Wow, what an honor. Especially for a German director. The film was, in many ways, a dream come true for all of us, especially the fact that nobody less than the great Koji Yakusho played the leading role, the humble public servant,...
Wenders’ Cannes competition title Perfect Days won Apsa’s Best Film award, while Hamaguchi’s enigmatic Venice title Evil Does Not Exist nabbed the Jury Grand Prize this evening at the Australian ceremony.
“It is with great pleasure and pride that my Japanese producers Takuma Takasaki and Koji Yanai and myself received the news that our film Perfect Days was awarded Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards,” Wenders said, accepting the award via video message.
He added: “Wow, what an honor. Especially for a German director. The film was, in many ways, a dream come true for all of us, especially the fact that nobody less than the great Koji Yakusho played the leading role, the humble public servant,...
- 11/3/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Sudan has submitted Mohamed Kordofani’s Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
The film made history in Cannes this year as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival after it was selected for Un Certain Regard.
Its premiere took place just weeks after fighting broke out in Khartoum due to a clash between rival generals, which has led to the deaths of 5,000 people and uprooted seven million people.
Since Cannes, the film has also played at Karlovy Vary in its Horizons section and will make its Mena premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival in October ahead of a theatrical release in the country on October 25. It has also been selected for the BFI London Film Festival.
The selection was made by the Sudanese National Committee which is operating in exile.
Alaa Karkouti at Mad Solutions, which is handling world sales,...
The film made history in Cannes this year as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival after it was selected for Un Certain Regard.
Its premiere took place just weeks after fighting broke out in Khartoum due to a clash between rival generals, which has led to the deaths of 5,000 people and uprooted seven million people.
Since Cannes, the film has also played at Karlovy Vary in its Horizons section and will make its Mena premiere at Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival in October ahead of a theatrical release in the country on October 25. It has also been selected for the BFI London Film Festival.
The selection was made by the Sudanese National Committee which is operating in exile.
Alaa Karkouti at Mad Solutions, which is handling world sales,...
- 9/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Ceremony will take place on November 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Hong Kong filmmaker Clara Law will head the international jury for the 2023 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa).
Law, who is based in Australia, will preside over a five-person jury, alongside Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, German producer Anna Katchko, Japanese cinematographer Hideho Urata, and Saudi executive Faisal Baltyuor.
The full list of nominations for the 16th Apsa will be announced on October 4; alongside the programme for the fifth Asia Pacific Screen Forum, which will run from November 1-4.
Both the Forum and the ceremony on November 3 will take place...
Hong Kong filmmaker Clara Law will head the international jury for the 2023 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa).
Law, who is based in Australia, will preside over a five-person jury, alongside Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, German producer Anna Katchko, Japanese cinematographer Hideho Urata, and Saudi executive Faisal Baltyuor.
The full list of nominations for the 16th Apsa will be announced on October 4; alongside the programme for the fifth Asia Pacific Screen Forum, which will run from November 1-4.
Both the Forum and the ceremony on November 3 will take place...
- 9/21/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Rule Of Law
Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann, German producer Anna Katchko, and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia.
A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru.
The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov. 4 and be preceded by three days of seminars and screenings. The awards and forum are presented by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland, the Motion Picture Association and Griffith Film School, Griffith University. Nominations will be announced on Oct. 4.
Law, who has previously been based in Hong Kong and Macau,...
Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann, German producer Anna Katchko, and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia.
A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru.
The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov. 4 and be preceded by three days of seminars and screenings. The awards and forum are presented by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, the City of Gold Coast, Screen Queensland, the Motion Picture Association and Griffith Film School, Griffith University. Nominations will be announced on Oct. 4.
Law, who has previously been based in Hong Kong and Macau,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Speakers at Screen round-table in Venice included Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti.
Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice hosted by Screen International and sponsored by the Saudi Film Commission.
In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite,...
Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice hosted by Screen International and sponsored by the Saudi Film Commission.
In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite,...
- 9/7/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Speakers at Screen round-table in Venice included
Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice sponsored by Screen International and the Saudi Film Commission.
In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite, All Quiet On The Western Front, Money Heist and Squid Game. However, programming at most cinemas...
Unifrance’s Daniela Elstner, Film i Vast’s Kristina Borjeson, and Lucky Red founder Andrea Occhipinti were among the international executives who came together to share insights into producing and distributing non-English language films outside of their home territories at a roundtable event in Venice sponsored by Screen International and the Saudi Film Commission.
In many ways, it seems a good time for non-English language films – audiences and awards have flocked to films and series like Parasite, All Quiet On The Western Front, Money Heist and Squid Game. However, programming at most cinemas...
- 9/7/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Saudi Arabia’s top local film distribution player CineWaves Films has announced the opening of a China office that it claims makes it the first Arab cultural entity to establish a physical presence in the world’s second-largest movie market.
The official announcement was made over the weekend during the Arab-Chinese Animation Forum by Zha Yindong, the deputy mayor of the city of Suzhou; and Saudi film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor, founder and CEO of CineWaves Films, in the presence of Chinese government representatives and cultural sectors.
“There are a lot of initiatives that are being taken in Saudi Arabia when it comes to cinema,” Baltyuor told Variety Tuesday on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival. “There are collaborations with Hollywood and with Europe in the West, but I didn’t see any initiatives being taken towards the Far East.”
That’s why few years ago Baltyour went to China and tried to connect.
The official announcement was made over the weekend during the Arab-Chinese Animation Forum by Zha Yindong, the deputy mayor of the city of Suzhou; and Saudi film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor, founder and CEO of CineWaves Films, in the presence of Chinese government representatives and cultural sectors.
“There are a lot of initiatives that are being taken in Saudi Arabia when it comes to cinema,” Baltyuor told Variety Tuesday on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival. “There are collaborations with Hollywood and with Europe in the West, but I didn’t see any initiatives being taken towards the Far East.”
That’s why few years ago Baltyour went to China and tried to connect.
- 9/5/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Opening is part of strategy focusing on international expansion and new opportunities for Saudi films worldwide.
Leading Saudi Arabian distributor CineWaves Films has opened an office in China as part of a strategy focusing on international expansion and opening up opportunities for Saudi films worldwide.
CineWaves Film said the new office – in Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai – was the first to be opened by an Arab cultural entity in China.
The announcement came during the Arab-Chinese Animation Forum last week. The Forum aims to foster cooperation between China and Arab countries in IP rights, talent training and the joint...
Leading Saudi Arabian distributor CineWaves Films has opened an office in China as part of a strategy focusing on international expansion and opening up opportunities for Saudi films worldwide.
CineWaves Film said the new office – in Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai – was the first to be opened by an Arab cultural entity in China.
The announcement came during the Arab-Chinese Animation Forum last week. The Forum aims to foster cooperation between China and Arab countries in IP rights, talent training and the joint...
- 9/5/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Mohamed Kordofani’s debut feature will premiere in Un Certain Regard.
Pan-Arab outfit Mad Solutions is moving into international sales and has acquired worldwide rights to Mohamed Kordofani’s debut feature Goodbye Julia, the first Sudanese film ever to be selected by the Cannes Film Festival.
The film will receive its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, which announced its lineup today.
Set in Khartoum ahead of Sudan’s division into two separate countries in 2011, the drama explores the differences between their two populations through two women hailing from the north and south of the country.
Pan-Arab outfit Mad Solutions is moving into international sales and has acquired worldwide rights to Mohamed Kordofani’s debut feature Goodbye Julia, the first Sudanese film ever to be selected by the Cannes Film Festival.
The film will receive its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, which announced its lineup today.
Set in Khartoum ahead of Sudan’s division into two separate countries in 2011, the drama explores the differences between their two populations through two women hailing from the north and south of the country.
- 4/13/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Saudi Arabian family comedy Sattar, set against the world of freestyle wrestling, has continued its record-breaking run at home to become one of the top five highest-grossing movies in the territory ever.
Since its release on December 29, the film has sold 723,000 tickets for a box office gross of $9.2M to date.
Distributor Front Row Arabia said that the film now sits in the fifth slot in Saudi Arabia’s historic box office charts after Top Gun: Maverick ($22.6M), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($17.4M) and two Egyptian films, Bahebek ($15.7M) and Waafet Regala ($15.6M).
The success comes just five years after the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s 35-year cinema ban at the end of 2017, and bodes well for the country’s burgeoning local filmmaking scene.
Kuwaiti filmmaker Abdullah Al Arak directs a cast led by stars popular Saudi actor and stand-up comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj, best known for the hit action...
Since its release on December 29, the film has sold 723,000 tickets for a box office gross of $9.2M to date.
Distributor Front Row Arabia said that the film now sits in the fifth slot in Saudi Arabia’s historic box office charts after Top Gun: Maverick ($22.6M), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($17.4M) and two Egyptian films, Bahebek ($15.7M) and Waafet Regala ($15.6M).
The success comes just five years after the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s 35-year cinema ban at the end of 2017, and bodes well for the country’s burgeoning local filmmaking scene.
Kuwaiti filmmaker Abdullah Al Arak directs a cast led by stars popular Saudi actor and stand-up comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj, best known for the hit action...
- 3/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi Arabian family comedy Sattar, about a depressed man who decides to pursue his dreams of becoming a freestyle wrestling champion, has set a new box office record for a local film at home.
The film has drawn 159,000 spectators for a gross of 2.2m over the course of its first 12 days on release to become the highest-grossing local film of all time in the territory, according to distributor Front Row Arabia, the joint distribution label between pan-Arab distributor Front Row Filmed and local exhibitor Muvi Cinema.
The distributor said that in its opening weekend, Sattar took the top slot from James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, then on its third week of release, outpacing the blockbuster by more than 40 in terms of admissions and 32 in gross.
Front Row Arabia said that strong word of mouth meant the film title dropped just 11 on the second weekend, in spite of widespread thunderstorms across the country,...
The film has drawn 159,000 spectators for a gross of 2.2m over the course of its first 12 days on release to become the highest-grossing local film of all time in the territory, according to distributor Front Row Arabia, the joint distribution label between pan-Arab distributor Front Row Filmed and local exhibitor Muvi Cinema.
The distributor said that in its opening weekend, Sattar took the top slot from James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, then on its third week of release, outpacing the blockbuster by more than 40 in terms of admissions and 32 in gross.
Front Row Arabia said that strong word of mouth meant the film title dropped just 11 on the second weekend, in spite of widespread thunderstorms across the country,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The goverment, institutions and private investors are now supporting local production.
Slowly, but surely, the number of local features being produced in Saudi Arabia is starting to rise.
Ever since cinemas first opened in the kingdom in 2018, exhibitors have largely relied on international movies from the likes of the US and Egypt to attract audiences.
Exhibitors are aware, however, that homegrown films which reflect the lives of local audiences are key for growing box office; local hits can turn good years into great years for cinemas. Over 580 screens have opened in the kingdom since the ban on cinemas was lifted...
Slowly, but surely, the number of local features being produced in Saudi Arabia is starting to rise.
Ever since cinemas first opened in the kingdom in 2018, exhibitors have largely relied on international movies from the likes of the US and Egypt to attract audiences.
Exhibitors are aware, however, that homegrown films which reflect the lives of local audiences are key for growing box office; local hits can turn good years into great years for cinemas. Over 580 screens have opened in the kingdom since the ban on cinemas was lifted...
- 12/5/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
Since it was first announced in late 2017 that the cinema ban in Saudi Arabia was being lifted after almost four decades, local industry pioneer and producer Faisal Baltyuor has been right at the heart of the action.
When the country brought its first delegation to Cannes the following year, Baltyuor was heading up the Saudi Film Council, the first government entity founded to support the industry, which made a series of bold announcements as it at looked to promote the Kingdom as a major shooting location (something that has since come to fruition thanks to big-budget Hollywood titles Kandahar and Desert Warrior). With the launch of the Saudi Ministry of Culture in 2019, the Council was folded into the Saudi Film Commission, giving Baltyour time to launch the country’s first arthouse distribution company CineWaves and also produce Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate,...
Since it was first announced in late 2017 that the cinema ban in Saudi Arabia was being lifted after almost four decades, local industry pioneer and producer Faisal Baltyuor has been right at the heart of the action.
When the country brought its first delegation to Cannes the following year, Baltyuor was heading up the Saudi Film Council, the first government entity founded to support the industry, which made a series of bold announcements as it at looked to promote the Kingdom as a major shooting location (something that has since come to fruition thanks to big-budget Hollywood titles Kandahar and Desert Warrior). With the launch of the Saudi Ministry of Culture in 2019, the Council was folded into the Saudi Film Commission, giving Baltyour time to launch the country’s first arthouse distribution company CineWaves and also produce Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate,...
- 11/30/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Saudi Arabia’s leading exhibition chain Muvi Cinemas is moving directly into film production with the launch of a subsidiary Muvi Studios, which will be headed by Saudi film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor.
The establishment of a production arm by Muvi, a local company that operates more than 205 screens across the kingdom, amounts to a milestone in Saudi’s efforts to build a film industry since movie theaters were reopened there in 2018, ending a religion-related ban.
The plan is for Muvi Studios to churn out an average of some 20 feature films per year, roughly half of which will be Saudi Arabian and the other half from Egypt and possibly from other Arabic countries, though there is no set quota.
“Muvi Studios will become an important part of the Saudi industry ecosystem,” said Baltyuor, a former CEO of the Saudi Film Council who in 2020 founded CineWaves Film, which is now the top Saudi specialty distribution company.
The establishment of a production arm by Muvi, a local company that operates more than 205 screens across the kingdom, amounts to a milestone in Saudi’s efforts to build a film industry since movie theaters were reopened there in 2018, ending a religion-related ban.
The plan is for Muvi Studios to churn out an average of some 20 feature films per year, roughly half of which will be Saudi Arabian and the other half from Egypt and possibly from other Arabic countries, though there is no set quota.
“Muvi Studios will become an important part of the Saudi industry ecosystem,” said Baltyuor, a former CEO of the Saudi Film Council who in 2020 founded CineWaves Film, which is now the top Saudi specialty distribution company.
- 5/22/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
As Saudi Arabia diversifies from an oil-based economy, the kingdom is pinning a significant portion of its hopes of becoming a major media industry hub on Neom, a futuristic megacity in-the-making.
It is where the $100 million seventh century actioner “Desert Warrior,” featuring an all-star international cast led by “Captain America” star Anthony Mackie, is currently shooting.
Situated along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom, Neom is a sprawling area roughly the size of Belgium that besides coral reefs and heritage sites, also comprises mountains and generally has a cooler temperature than most of the region.
Bankrolled by Saudi-owned Mbc Group, “Desert Warrior” — which stars Saudi-British actor Aiysha Hart (“Mogul Mowgli”) alongside Mackie and is being directed by Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) and produced by Jeremy Bolt (“Resident Evil”) — is the biggest Hollywood-style tentpole ever shot entirely in the Arab world.
It is where the $100 million seventh century actioner “Desert Warrior,” featuring an all-star international cast led by “Captain America” star Anthony Mackie, is currently shooting.
Situated along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom, Neom is a sprawling area roughly the size of Belgium that besides coral reefs and heritage sites, also comprises mountains and generally has a cooler temperature than most of the region.
Bankrolled by Saudi-owned Mbc Group, “Desert Warrior” — which stars Saudi-British actor Aiysha Hart (“Mogul Mowgli”) alongside Mackie and is being directed by Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) and produced by Jeremy Bolt (“Resident Evil”) — is the biggest Hollywood-style tentpole ever shot entirely in the Arab world.
- 12/9/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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