Abbout Productions was founded in 2003 by Georges Schoucair to produce and distribute Arab and international arthouse titles globally. Abbout includes Shortcut Films, which co-produced Berlinale Silver Bear winner FELICITÉ by French-Senegalese Alain Gomis. Among Abbout’s acclaimed productions were MEMORY BOX; COSTA BRAVA, LEBANON; THE SEA AHEAD; DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO; and DIARIES FROM LEBANON. Schoucair also founded Beirut\'s Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival and MC Distribution and is VP of Metropolis. In 2017, he was included in the 2017 Variety 500 list.
A SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD: Abbout’s feature, by Cyril Aris, world premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the People’s Choice Award. Selected as Lebanon’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, the film went on to garner more than 15 international honors.
ONLY REBELS WIN: Danielle Arbid’s age-gap drama, starring Hiam Abbas and Amine Benrachid, world premiered last February as the opening film of Berlinale Panorama.
Locarno Recognition: Last August, Abbout received the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at the 78th Locarno Film Festival, honoring its outstanding contribution to independent Lebanese and Arab cinema.
Highly-anticipated projects: Abbout is producing Nadim Tabet’s horror romance IN THIS DARKNESS I SEE YOU, which was featured at the 58th Karlovy Vary’s Works in Progress and 81st Venice’s Final Cut, where it secured global distribution support from MAD Solutions and Cynthia Sawma\'s debut narrative feature YOUR TURN, 203, which has received backing from ART, the Red Sea Foundation, and Rise Studios at the CineGouna Funding.
