Cairo-based film company Mad Solutions has acquired Middle East and North Africa distribution rights for Syrian director Soudade Kaadan’s upcoming drama Nezouh, set against the backdrop of Syria’s civil conflict.
The film, which is sold internationally by mk2 films, is in post-production and is expected to world premiere at a festival later this year. Mad Solutions has released a first image for the film as it nears completion.
It is Kaadan’s second feature after The Day I Lost My Shadow, which won Venice’s Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best first film in 2018.
Like The Day I Lost My Shadow, the new drama is inspired partly by French-born Syrian director Kaadan’s own experiences in the early days of the war in Syria, which forced her to leave the country and return to France.
It revolves around a 14-year-old girl who finds herself sleeping under the stars and making friends with the boy next door after her home is hit by a missile.
Her mother wants to flee due to the escalating violence but the father refuses to become a refugee and tries everything to stop the family from leaving their home. It stars top Cairo-based Syrian actress Kinda Alloush as the mother with Samer Al Masri as the father and big-screen debutant Hala Zein as the daughter.
”We have believed in Soudade Kaadan’s talent since we first watched her short films,” commented Mad Solution co-heads Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, referring to the awarding works Aziza and Besieged Bread.
The film is shot in Turkey and is produced by Kaadan’s Zajal Productions and Yu-Fai Suen’s UK company Berkeley Media Group in association with Marc Bordure’s Paris-based Ex Nihilo. It is financed through the BFI, Film4 and Stars Collective.
Pyramide Distribution holds French rights.
No comments yet