Iraqi Cinema is getting ready to welcome the New Year with a number of big projects, most importantly opening a new movie theater at Baghdad Mall and launching a new magazine under the title Iraqi Cinema, besides screening the latest Arab and foreign films to Iraqi audiences through its movie theaters in Baghdad and Babel.
Zaid Jawad, Founder of Iraqi Cinema, is going to represent his company at the Dubai International Film Festival as part of his partnership with the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), which participates in various activities at the festival for the third year.
Iraqi Cinema will open its latest movie theaters at Baghdad Mall with a seating capacity of 850 seats and eight halls, which will include two VIP halls, to be added to its four movie theaters that are equipped with the latest digital cinema projectors. This comes as part of the company's plan to revive and expand Iraqi movie theaters during 2018.
With an aim of promoting cinema culture in Iraq, Iraqi Cinema will launch the Iraqi Cinema magazine that will talk about the films showing in theaters, the latest news about Iraqi and international entertainment industry and variant cinematic topics with a unique and smart artistic design for Iraqi readers.
Iraqi Cinema is the first digital cinema complex in Iraq since 2003. It has revived the idea of establishing movie theaters in Iraq after they were completely shut down. Currently, Iraqi Cinema is running four movie theaters with 19 halls. The company is working on raising these numbers to one-third during 2018.
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The Center's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC partners and their future projects.
The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.
Since the beginning of 2017, the ACC has made 19 stops at international festivals and markets. The festivals attended are the International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR), Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP) held within the Beirut Cinema Days, Istanbul Film Festival, Tripoli Film Festival, the 34th WIPO SCCR in Geneva, Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Eurasia International Film Festival, Festival del film Locarno, Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Film and Television Careers Connection (FTCC), San Sebastian International Film Festival, Malmo Arab Film Festival, Cape Town International Film Market & Festival (CTIFMF), Days of Cinema in Palestine, MedFilm Festival in Italy and the LatinArab Co-Production Forum.
