MAD World, the film sales arm of Cairo-based MAD Solutions, has acquired the rights to Egyptian director Yomna Khattab’s family documentary 50 Meters ahead of its world premiere at CPH:DOX.
The film follows Khattab as she struggles to make her first feature. While at a 50-meter swimming pool in Cairo, she turns the camera on her distant father and begins to connect with him by writing fictional scenes and drafting voice-overs for him.
The Egypt-Denmark-Saudi co-production is produced by Ahmed Amer of Cairo-based A.A. Films and Patricia Drati of Copenhagen-based Good Company Pictures.
The crew includes editors Gladys Joujou, who worked on BFI London Film Festival award-winner Bye Bye Tiberias, and Khaled Moeit, whose credits include Tribeca award-winner Souad.
While at project stage, the documentary won the IDFA Spotlight Award at the Durban Film Mart in 2022, participated at the IDFA Project Space in 2023, and won several development and production grants, such as the Red Sea Production Fund, Danish Film Institute Fund, Whickers Development Fund, and nine prizes at the fifth El Gouna Film Festival pitching forum.
It is set to receive its world premiere on March 24 at CPH:Dox, where it screens in the Next:Wave section.
Cairo-based filmmaker Khattab previously wrote and produced Menna Ekram’s short Let Us Play Yesterday, which was selected for El Gouna Film Festival in 2023.
Speaking about her first feature, she said: “Turning 35 pushed me to a crossroads where I had to make choices related to career, and parenthood. I had questions related to growing old, loneliness, and mortality and I was looking for a clear answer. By stepping into my father’s world, I decided to use my filmmaking process to spend more time with him at this critical age and have an honest conversation about the universal fears of my generation.
“It was like trapping myself in this confined pool during a whole summer to find answers, reconciliation with my own self, and finally acceptance of life’s harsh facts, so I can move forward with my life.”
Producers Amer and Drati said: “We made this project with the goal of showcasing intimate stories from the Arab World, that do not get enough space at festivals.”
In a joint statement, MAD Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab said their latest acquisition was an indication of how they want to work with first-time directors, “especially when they have a solid vision and a great team backing them up”.
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