MAD Solutions signed a distribution agreement with FilmLab: Palestine to distribute its films in Palestine.
Commenting on the agreement, Hanna Atallah, Artistic Director of Film Lab: Palestine, says, "Our cooperation with MAD Solutions is considered as a way to develop cinema culture in Palestine through the Days of Cinema in Palestine and the independent and non-commercial film screenings. The purpose of these screenings is to bring back cinema-goers, encourage them to watch films at art houses and movie theaters as well as spreading the idea of watching Arab films released in different Arab countries."
Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, Managing Partner of the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) and CEO of MAD Solutions, says, "What FilmLab: Palestine has achieved in the past years is regarded as an important and advanced step in supporting Palestinian and Arab films and attracting audiences to watch them through its activities. Our partnership is an extension of these steps."
Founded in 2014, Filmlab: Palestine's establishment as an organization was inspired by the personal experience of its founders in empowering Palestinian youth in refugee camps in Jordan. Realizing that this experience introduced young practitioners to the art of filmmaking as a creative and unconventional method to tell their own personal narratives, Filmlab: Palestine was established to further document the collective Palestinian memory as well as the unique individual voices of Palestinians within the occupied territories and abroad. Filmlab: Palestine aims to expand and cultivate the existing cinema culture within Palestine, while providing the much-needed technical and artistic support for emerging Palestinian filmmaking voices.
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 22 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, Latin Arab Co-Production Forum, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Arab Cinema Week in New York and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
