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Egyptian acting star Mona Zaki did not hold back when she was asked about the new generation of actors in the Arab film industry being consumed by social media and brand deals.

“It’s all fake, from beginning to end,” declared Zaki during a conversation event at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

“If the new generation relies purely on social media and brand deals for fame, they’re not going to learn anything. Even if they work with big important brands, they’ll be underpaid because they’re just being given a superficial image,” she continued. “They won’t be able to grow in their career as authentic actors.”

“I don’t really deal with social media, I don’t know how to. I think when people become too obsessed with it, they get stuck in a shallow mindset that doesn’t allow for much personal growth.”

Zaki,...

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy and Algerian director Merzak Allouache will be honored this week by Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Hefzy will receive the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award, while Allouache is being bestowed with the Variety International Vanguard Director Award. Both honors are given in recognition of their achievements over the course of their careers.

Hefzy will receive his award on stage on Dec. 9 before the Red Sea screening of his film “Abdo & Saneya,” which starts 5 P.M. Allouache will receive his award before the premiere of his film “Front Row” on Dec. 8, starting at 5.15 P.M. Both screenings take place in the auditorium in Culture Square in Jeddah.

Hefzy and his Cairo-based production company Film Clinic have a reputation for promoting emerging Egyptian filmmaking talents such as Abu Bakr Shawky (“Yomeddine”), Omar El Zohairy (“Feathers”) and Mohamed Diab...

Saudi romantic comedy A Matter Of Life And Death from acclaimed Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is set to begin shooting in the region next month.

The feature will reunite writer and star Sarah Taibah with director Anas Ba-Tahaf, who previously worked together on groundbreaking TV series Jameel Jeddan. Filming is set to begin in Jeddah on January 18.

Taibah will play a superstitious young woman who is convinced she’s cursed while Yaqoub Alfarhan, of Cannes 2024 title Norah, plays a shy heart surgeon. When fate brings them together they find unexpected connections.

Hefzy’s Film Clinic and Front Row Productions have...

Film Clinic and Front Row Productions have teamed up with Arabia Pictures Group and Rotana Studios to produce the offbeat Saudi rom-com A Matter of Life and Death, written by Sarah Taibah (last year’s Red Sea International Film Festival opening film Hwjn, Jameel Jeddan) and directed by Anas Ba-Tahaf (Fay’s Palette, Jameel Jeddan).

Starring Taibah (Mandoob, Jameel Jeddan) and Yaqoub Alfarhan (Norah, Rashash and the upcoming AlGhaid), the film is “a quirky tale involving Hayat, a superstitious young woman who is convinced she’s cursed, and Yousef, a shy heart surgeon dealing with a bafflingly slow heartbeat,” according to a synopsis. “Their fates collide in the most peculiar way: she’s wishing for an end, while he’s wrestling with even darker thoughts.”

The creatives promise “a rollercoaster journey through love, destiny, and the surprising connections

that can sprout from life’s craziest twists all told through the...

Long-time collaborators Cairo-based Film Clinic and Dubai-based Front Row Productions are joining forces with Saudi Arabian companies Arabia Pictures Group and Rotana Studios to produce local rom-com A Matter of Life and Death.

The Jeddah-shot feature will revolve around the romance between two unconventional characters: Hayat, a superstitious young woman who is convinced she’s cursed, and Yousef, a shy heart surgeon dealing with a bafflingly slow heartbeat. Their fates collide as she is wishing for an end, while he is wrestling with even darker thoughts.

The feature will be directed by Anas Ba-Tahaf, whose 2021 drama Fay’s Palette, about a girl cloistered in her home by a controlling brother, was one of the first Saudi features to be made following the lifting of the country’s 35-year cinema ban in 2017.

Writer and actor Sarah Taibah, who took co-writing credits on Saudi fantasy drama Hwjn, is lead writer. She and...

Saudi Arabia’s fourth Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) kicked off with a star-studded opening ceremony, including awards for Vin Diesel, Emily Blunt and Indian icon Aamir Khan.

Taking place at the new Cultural Square venue in the historic Al-Balad district, the opening ceremony got underway around 90 minutes late, with weekend traffic in Jeddah causing delays.

Once it began, there were performances of local music and dancing, plus comic banter between hosts, Lebanese-Australian presenter Danielle Rahme and local doctor-turned-filmmaker Hakeem Jomah.

A succession of high-profile international names took the stage to introduce, and receive honorary prizes. Michelle Rodriguez – a...

Emily Blunt shared thoughts on creativity and diversity during the opening ceremony of the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

Other Hollywood A-listers coming out in Jeddah’s old town Al-Balad in Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city included Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Erivo, Eva Longoria, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Rodriguez, competition jury president Spike Lee, Will Smith, Vin Diesel, Saudi actor Khaled Yeslam and Daniel Dae Kim. The opening movie was Karim Shenawi’s The Tale of Daye’s Family, the story of an 11-year-old albino who gets a chance to audition for The Voice.

For the decidedly glamorous opening ceremony on Thursday night, the stars made their way this year up a wide, well-lit red carpet set among the Ottoman-style main building of the city’s new Culture Square, with backlit coral stone facades and intricate wood latticework,...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival kicked off its fourth edition on Thursday with the world premiere of Karim Shenawi’s Egyptian drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family” and a glitzy red carpet featuring Will Smith, Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Eva Longoria, Michelle Yeoh, Minnie Driver, Michael Douglas and Vin Diesel, the latter of whom received the festival’s Iconic Characters Award.

Diesel took to the stage after a warm introduction by his long-time collaborator Michelle Rodríguez, who said the two have “been creatively in rooms defending storytelling, people with our colored skin and the beauty of the streets and the people who don’t necessarily live by the rules of others.”

Michelle Rodriguez, Mohammed Al Turki and Eva Longoria attend the opening ceremony at the Red Sea Film Festival.

Accepting the award, the actor quipped about the star-filled room: “There might be more familiar faces...

Neben Aamir Khan, Viola Davis und Mona Zaki wird Emily Blunt bei der Eröffnungsgala des Red Sea International Film Festival am 5. Dezember geehrt.

Emily Blunt wird beim Red Sea International Film Festival geehrt und für Gespräche zur Verfügung stehen (Credit: Imago / Abacapress)

Emiliy Blunt, in diesem Jahr für ihre Rolle der Kitty Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolans „Oppenheimer“ für einen Oscar nominiert, wird am 5. Dezember bei der Eröffnungsgala des vierten Red Sea International Film Festival für ihre „glanzvolle Karriere und nachhaltigen Einfluss auf die Filmbranche“ geehrt. Das gab das Festival heute bekannt.

„Ich freue mich unglaublich, zum Red Sea Film Festival zu kommen und bin dankbar, eine der diesjährigen Preisträgerinnen zu sein. Ich liebe alles, was dieses Festival für innovative und aufstrebende Talente in der Filmbranche tut. Besonders begeistert bin ich davon, wie sie Frauen in der Filmbranche fördern und ihren Stimmen Gehör verschaffen.“

Neben Emily Blunt werden auch der indische Schauspieler Aamir Khan,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) will honor Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) and India’s Aamir Khan (Dangal) at the opening ceremony of its fourth edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia later this week.

The festival, which will run Dec. 5-14, said the stars were picked for honors “in recognition of their illustrious careers and lasting impact on the film industry.”

Previously announced 2024 Red Sea honorees are Viola Davis (The Woman King, Fences) and Egypt’s Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers).

Blunt and Khan will also join the lineup of speakers for the festival’s In Conversation With strand, which invites guests from all over the world to share insights into their careers, practice and passions.

“I’m incredibly excited to be coming to the Red Sea Film Festival and grateful to be one of this year’s honorees,” said Blunt. “I love all that this festival is doing for innovative and...

Bollywood star Aamir Khan and Oscar nominee Emily Blunt will be honored at the opening night of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival this week, alongside previously announced honouree, Egyptian actor Mona Zaki.

Khan and Blunt will also participate in the festival’s starry ‘In Conversation With’ strand, for which Eva Longoria, Andrew Garfield and Ranbir Kapoor are among the speakers to have already been announced.

India’s Khan is one his country’s most successful actors and filmmakers with a string of hit films under his belt including the 2016 female wrestling drama Dangal, which remains one of the highest grossing films in the territory to this day.

Other notable credits include hits with Ghajini, 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3, Pk and 2002 Oscar-nominee Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India.

A Quiet Place and Sicario star Blunt was Oscar-nominated in the 2023-24 awards season for best supporting actress for her...

Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, best known internationally for groundbreaking epic “The Yacoubian Building,” more recently shot “El Set,” a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum, who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer.

Kulthum has also been praised by Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, among other Western artists, and sampled by Beyonce and Shakira.

Hamed’s new Arabic blockbuster with international ambitions, now in post, features Egyptian star Mona Zaki playing the vocalist born in the Nile delta village of Tamay al‐Zahirah, who from the late 1920s onwards became the first Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.

In the process, Kulthum recorded some 300 songs over a 60-year career, while conquering millions of fans and disrupting gender norms with her powerful, often politically charged, music.

A sneak 18-minute peek...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has lined up speakers including filmmakers Michael Mann and Spike Lee and actors Eva Longoria and Andrew Garfield for its In Conversation With and Souk Talents strands.

The line-up of speakers speakers this year also includes Egyptian writer and director Mohamed Samy (Detention Letter) and Turkish stars Engin Altan Düzyatan (Diriliş: Ertuğrul) and Nurgül Yeşilçay.

Also joining the lineup are Indian Cinema stars Ranbir Kapoor (Animal) and Kareena Kapoor Khan (Buckingham Murders).

They join previously announced speakers Egyptian actor Mona Zaki and Academy Award-winner Viola Davis. Spike Lee was last week announced as...

Madonna Feature Doc Set At Sky

Madonna is the latest pop icon to be spotlighted for a documentary. Sky has greenlit a feature on the American singer from At Home with the Furys producer Optomen, which will “chart Madonna’s rise to become the biggest female pop icon in history,” it said. With rare footage, unseen photos and intimate interviews with family, friends and collaborators – some of whom have never spoken in a documentary before – Becoming Madonna will show a new side to the singer, starting with her as a professional dancer in the late 70s and ending in 1992 as she transformed through the decades. Hayley Reynolds, Sky’s Acting Director of Documentaries and Factual, said: “Since her debut in the 80s, Madonna has been a powerhouse in pop music and carved the way for many of today’s most popular artists. This film brings a fresh perspective on an...

Spike Lee is set to preside over the main jury of the upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival (December 5-14).

The Oscar-winning US filmmaker will head the Red Sea: Features Competition jury at the fourth edition of the festival, which is set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 16-strong selection was revealed last week, comprising features by filmmakers from the Arab region, Asia and Africa.

Lee, known for writing and directing Malcolm X, BlacKkKlansman and Do The Right Thing, will also discuss his career during the festival as part of Red Sea’s in conversation strand.

He previously...

Spike Lee will serve as the president of the main competition jury at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The fest will see 16 movies compete in the main competition lineup of its latest edition running Dec. 5-14. The titles include Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.

“Having been lucky enough to experience first-hand the incredible filmmaking, atmosphere, and creativity at the Red Sea International Film Festival in 2022, it’s a privilege to be returning this year as president of the jury,” Lee said. “Alongside creating a melting pot for cultures to come together in celebration of our important art form, it’s vital to continue to platform young and emerging filmmakers who...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has revealed the four movies for this year’s Treasures strand, showcasing “timeless classics,” including crime thriller Heat by director Michael Mann, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight and Val Kilmer.

The film will be screened alongside “three meticulously restored works in collaboration with Egyptian Media Production City,” fest organizers said Monday.

Heat “redefined the genre with its intricate narrative and electrifying performances by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino,” organizers said.

“With Hussein Fawzi’s Bread and Salt, Smile the Photo Comes Out Better, starring the Rsiff honoree and Egyptian film legend Mona Zaki and directed by Sherif Arafa, and Ali Badrakhan’s Shafika and Metwali, personally selected by Mona Zaki, the festival is honoring Egypt’s rich cinematic legacy that has inspired generations of directors, alongside new Egyptian voices and projects across other programming strands,...

Viola Davis will be honored by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, where the Oscar winner and four-time nominee will also be holding a master class highlighting her career.

On Monday, the festival — which will run Dec. 6 to 14 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore — announced the main lineup of its fourth edition, which will open with the world premiere of Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s musical drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family.” The film follows an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice “who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” as the provided synopsis puts it.

“For us, this a perfect representation of where this region is headed and what’s happening here,” said the fest’s managing director Shivani Pandya Malhotra at a press conference, noting that the inspirational film is a co-production between Egypt and Saudi.

The Red Sea fest – which is...

From December 5–14, the Red Sea International Film Festival will present its most ambitious lineup yet, turning Jeddah’s historic Al Balad area into a lively movie-going spot. After two years at the Ritz-Carlton, this fourth version will bring 120 films from 81 countries to the city’s heritage quarter, a big move back to this area.

Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s play “The Tale of Daye’s Family” will open the festival. It’s about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who wants to try out for “The Voice” in Cairo. Better Man, Michael Gracey’s unusual biopic of Robbie Williams, which shows the pop star as an ape, will be the last movie shown.

The event is sure to have many big names. Viola Davis, an Academy Award winner, and Mona Zaki, an Egyptian actress, are both set to receive special awards. Davis will do more than just accept the award. Through her production business,...

The fourth editon of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 5-14) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition strand and has selected Egypt-Saudi co-productionThe Tale Of Daye’s Family as its opening film.

The Tale Of Daye’s Family by Egyptian filmmaker Karim Shenawi tells the story of an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who faces adversity due to his unique appearance and who gets a chance to audition for an Egyptian version of talent show The Voice.

Scroll down for full Competition line-up

Speaking at a Red Sea press conference this morning, the festival’s managing director...

The Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah.

The festival will open with Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family (aka Light) about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy with a beautiful voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance.

Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous 1,000-mile journey from Southern Egypt to Cairo.

Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature Better Man, inspired by Robbie Williams and portraying the pop icon as a chimpanzee, will close the festival.

Johnny Depp’s Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness...

Honors for and onstage appearances by Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers, Flight 404, Aserb: The Squadron, The Spider), Johnny Depp’s new movie as a director and a biopic about Robbie Williams will be part of this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organizers said Monday.

They also unveiled the competition lineup for the fest’s fourth edition. Organizers said that the overall lineup features 49 world and international premieres, also highlighting that six female filmmakers will be featured in the competition program.

Among the 15 competition titles announced are Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.

The Rsiff on Monday also added several galas to its lineup, plus unveiled its International Spectacular and its Families & Children programs.

U.S. director Jeff Nichols – whose “The Bikeriders” recently made a splash at Cannes and Telluride – is set to be the official patron of the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops that will see him mentoring selected projects in various stages from the Middle East and North Africa.

Launched in 2018, the Atlas Workshops are an industry initiative to foster and support the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers that provides an environment for exchanges between global professionals and regional talent.

The Marrakech fest’s industry platform this year comprise 17 projects in development and 10 films in production or post-production, hailing from 13 countries. These works have been selected from more than 300 applications received by the workshop from across the African continent and the Arab world.

Standout projects on display at the workshops include “El Sett” by prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed (“‘The Yacoubian Building”). The film,...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2, 2024.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

The Arab Cinema Center has published this year's “Golden 101”, its annual list of the 101 most influential figures in Arab cinema in its 22nd edition of Arab Cinema Magazine, which is being circulated at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival and can be accessed on the Marché du Film website.

Celebrating individuals and institutions who have made the most significant impact on the Arab film industry over the past twelve months, this year's Golden 101 comprises of 13 directors, 16 producers, 14 actors, five crew members, 18 distributors from 12 institutions, 12 executives from 10 governmental cinema institutions, 11 executives from seven video-on-demand platforms, 11 representatives from seven festivals, and seven executives from film financing institutions.

Commenting on this year's Golden 101 list, Colin Brown, Mad Solutions' Managing Partner for International Operations said; “These are the artists, artisans, and power brokers who have distinguished themselves this past year – and the rest of the world should pay attention to them if...

After scoring robust box office results regionally, Egyptian thriller “Flight 404,” starring Mona Zaki as a woman whose tainted past resurfaces as she is about to embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca, is getting a small but significant rollout in the U.S. and Europe.

Directed by Hani Khalifa, “Flight 404” sees Zaki – who starred in the Arabic adaptation of hit dramedy “Perfect Strangers” – playing an Egyptian woman named Ghada who is about to board a flight to participate in the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to atone for past misdeeds, when she is forced to face a sudden emergency requiring lots of cash. This prompts Ghada to reconnect with shady people from her past from whom she had long distanced herself.

Since releasing in Egypt on Jan. 25, “Flight 404” has scored more than 450,000 admissions across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region,...

Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (Gea) has launched a new film fund called Big Time Investment to boost production of quality Arabic movies and announced a slate of Egyptian feature films toplined by a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer.

Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic “Kira and El Gen” about local resistance to British occupation, is recent hit, will direct the film titled “El Set.” Egyptian star Mona Zaki will play Kulthum who from the late 1920s onwards became the first prominent Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.

The fund was announced in Cairo by Gea chairman Turki Alalshikh who said Gea will serve as the roughly $130 million fund’s primary sponsor with the Ministry of Culture acting as a co-sponsor, according...

Exclusive: Leading Egyptian independent production company Film Clinic is gearing up for the shoot of The Inevitable Journey Of Finding The Wedding Dress by Jaylan Auf.

Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.

“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”

Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.

“We’ve been trying to get...

Shekhar Kapur’s rom com “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” will open the second edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, where director Oliver Stone will preside over the main jury.

The fest, which is Saudi’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions after the country in late 2017 removed its religion-related ban on cinemas, will run Dec. 1-10 in Jeddah, on the eastern shore of the Red Sea.

The closer is the world premiere of Saudi feature “Valley Road,” written and directed by Khaled Fahd, an uplifting drama about a man named Ali who lives in a mountain village and is perceived as having a disability.

Sandwiched in between is a mix of the cream of the festival circuit crop, such as Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning “Triangle of Sadness,” Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” and Park Chan-Wook’s “Decision to Leave,...

Oliver Stone to head features competition jury.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the programme for its second edition (December 1-10), with Studiocanal and Working Title’s romantic comedy What’s Love Got To Do With It? playing as the opening night gala.

Directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan, What’s Love Got To Do With It? stars Lily James and Shazad Latif in the story of two people from different cultures who fall in love. It launched at the Toronto International FIlm Festival in September.

Rsiff will close with the world...

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking to Gianluca Chakra, founder and managing director of pan-Arab distribution outfit Front Row Filmed Entertainment. The company, which was founded from humble beginnings in 2003, is now one of the most prominent companies in the Middle East and recently launched its first production with Netflix, Perfect Strangers.

It’s been an auspicious start to the year for Gianluca Chakra’s pan-Arab outfit Front Row Filmed Entertainment. The company, which has long been at the forefront of distributing top-shelf independent cinema to the Middle East region, kicked off 2022 with its first production Perfect Strangers, the latest international remake of 2016 Italian hit Perfetti Sconosciuti. Netflix boarded the project last year after signing a first-look deal with Front Row, marking the...

Netflix’s first ever Arabic film, a remake of the Italian hit “Perfect Strangers,” has quickly hit No. 1 in several countries across the Middle East and won critical acclaim, but it’s also been the subject of controversy and outrage from more conservative citizens and even lawmakers in Egypt.

Attacks on social media against one of the film’s Egyptian stars, Mona Zaki, spread online since its debut on Jan. 20. But the outrage came to a head when an Egyptian lawmaker, Mostafa Bakri, said in a TV interview (via the Washington Post) that the film was “targeting” family values. He even called for a special session of parliament to discuss whether “we should ban Netflix.”

A lawyer even filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and the Artistic Works Censorship Authority, saying that the film “promotes homosexuality.” Egypt has cracked down on LGBTQ+ individuals and gay rights with...

The Arabic adaptation of hit Italian movie “Perfect Strangers,” which is Netflix’s first Arab original film, is sparking controversy in Egypt and across West Asia due to a gay character and taboo-breaking storylines, prompting the U.S. streaming giant to respond.

Since its release, the Beirut-set “Perfect Strangers” redo has been among the top trending topics on social media in West Asia, a region also referred to as the Middle East. Reactions have been especially strong in Egypt where the pic has sparked a chorus of outrage for allegedly promoting homosexuality and immorality, leading to formal complaints being lodged to the country’s authorities, as well as a massive outpour of support.

Netflix, acknowledging the controversy for the first time, on Tuesday issued the following statement to Variety: “‘Perfect Strangers’ is a fictional story that explores universal themes without taking a moral stand, instead inviting the audience to have an open dialogue and debate.

Netflix has boarded the upcoming Arabic-language version of hit movie property Perfect Strangers, which becomes the streamer’s first Arabic-language Original movie.

The 18th national remake of the smash Italian movie stars Lebanese icon Nadine Labaki, Egyptian star Mona Zaki, Eyad Nassar, Georges Khabbaz, Adel Karam, Fouad Yammine and Diamand Abou Abboud.

The feature tells the story of seven close friends who get together for dinner and decide to play a game that involves them placing their cell phones on the dinner table, and agreeing to openly share every call, text and voice message as it comes. What starts out as fun, quickly unfolds into an uncharted path of untold secrets that reveals more than what they wish to share.

Netflix is lining up a 20 January 2022 release in 190 countries. Pic is produced by Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Film Clinic, Empire Entertainment and Yalla Yalla.

Also revealed today is that Middle...

Netflix has swooped on the Arabic adaptation of hit Italian concept movie “Perfect Strangers” as its first Arabic original film. The streaming service has also inked a first-look deal with the pic’s lead producer, Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment, involving other possible titles in its pipeline.

The hotly anticipated Arabic remake of “Perfect Strangers” features a high-caliber pan-Arabic ensemble cast including Lebanese multi-hyphenate Nadine Labaki and Egyptian star Mona Zaki. It is directed by Lebanese first-timer Wissam Smayra.

Pic is co-produced by Front Row’s Yalla Yalla unit with Egypt’s Film Clinic and Lebanon’s Empire Entertainment.

The original “Perfect Strangers” was directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese and produced by Medusa Films, Leone Film Group and Lotus Productions. It grossed over $31 million domestically and spawned remakes in 18 territories including France, Germany, Spain, Greece and South Korea that have grossed an estimated total $270 million worldwide.

“Perfect Strangers” is...

It is the second Arab language remake of a European hit for Dubai-based after the upcoming Perfect Strangers.

Dubai-based pan-Arab distributor Front Row Film Entertainment has signed screenwriter Amr El Daly and ad director Jad Aouad for its upcoming Arab language, Egypt-set remake of French hit Intouchables.

It marks Front Row’s second Arab-language adaptation of a popular European film as it pushes on with plans to develop and produce high-end language content for the Mena region.

The company is currently gearing up for the early 2021 launch of a remake of Italian hit Perfect Strangers, with Nadine Labaki, Mona Zaki...

BBC Studioworks Inks Scottish Studio Deal

BBC Studioworks, the BBC’s commercial studio and facilities outfit, has been named as the operator of Scotland’s soon-to-open 10,500 sq ft Kelvin Hall studio. Kelvin Hall will open late next year, hosting a range of entertainment shows following £7.9M ($10.4M) investment from the Scottish government. BBC Studioworks was initially going to take over BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay facility but the move was cancelled amid Scottish government concerns that it would lead to redundancies. Studioworks said the Glasgow facility deal is “in direct response to growing demand to make more TV shows in Scotland” and that it plans to “open” additional studios across the UK.

ViacomCBS & Wattpad Webtoon In Slate Pact

ViacomCBS and Wattpad Webtoon Studios have struck a deal to create a slate of original series based on Wattpad and Webtoon stories. The pair will work together to identify IP from Wattpad...

The deal reveals growing synergies between the Egyptian and Saudi screen industries.

Saudi Arabian company Arabia Pictures Group has unveiled its involvement in a raft of high-profile Egyptian features, during a presentation at Cairo International Film Festival.

The Egyptian projects include Hani Khalifa’s drama Cairo Mecca.

Local star Mona Zaki plays a woman on a mission to participate in the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, to atone for past bad deeds.

It is lead produced by Cairo-based Film Clinic with Egypt’s Lagoonie Film Production and The Producers.

The company...

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy’s production shingle Film Clinic –– at Venice with “Amira,” Mohamed Diab’s drama about Palestinian children conceived behind bars with smuggled sperm –– is getting a financial boost that will triple its resources just as two new film and TV projects go into production.

Film Clinic is having an outstanding festival presence this year. They recently took the top Cannes Critics’ Week nod with Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers,” and are now in the Venice Horizons section with “Amira” (pictured); it will soon be in Toronto with Hany Abu-Assad’s “Huda’s Salon.”

Now the company will have the financial muscle to take things to the next level thanks a new partner, government-affiliated outfit Ergo, which is taking a 49% stake in Film Clinic, while Hefzy and other partners will retain control of the remaining 51%.

Hefzy underlined that while the seed money comes from a government bank, the company is private,...

Three years after the first movie theater reopened in Saudi Arabia – following removal of a religion-related ban – the kingdom has become the top theatrical market in the Middle East and is turning into a major driver for Arabic film production.

“At the moment Saudi is on a different path from the rest of the world,” says David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia, which sees this new market as having the potential to be ranked among the top 10-15 territories for box office worldwide by 2024.

By 2024 Omdia estimates there will be 1,400 screens in Saudi Arabia, up from a current count of less than 300 screens in 2020 with more than 600 screens expected in 2021. In 2020 Saudi box office was up 3% to $115 million, bucking the downward trend in the rest of the world.

But besides growing box office and screen count, just like in other parts of the world such as China where there is moviegoing growth,...

Cameras are set to roll in February on the long delayed Arabic adaptation of hit Italian concept movie “Perfect Strangers” with a high-caliber ensemble cast now in place comprising star Lebanese director/actor Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”).

After being postponed due to both Covid-19 and political turmoil in Lebanon, the latest in a slew of remakes of the dramedy involving cellphones and personal secrets, is now on track for principal photography to start February 2. It will be directed by Lebanese first-timer Wissam Smayra who has co-written the Arabic “Perfect Strangers” screenplay with Gabriel Yammine.

Along with Labaki, the pan-Arabic “Perfect Strangers” cast also features Egypt’s Mona Zaki; Egypt-based Jordanian actor/director Eyad Nassar (“The Blue Elephant 2”); Lebanon’s Diamand Bou Abboud (“The Fixer”), Adel Karam (“The Insult”), and fellow Lebanese actor/director/playwright/composer Georges Khabbaz, who co-wrote “Capernaum.”

The original “Perfect Strangers” was directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese...

Cast has been set and shoot scheduled for the Arabic-language remake of Italian box office smash hit Perfect Strangers.

Lebanese actress and filmmaker Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) has been cast alongside Egyptian star Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago), Adel Karam (The Insult), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult) and George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs).

Wissam Smayra is directing and co-wrote the screenplay with Gabriel Yammine. Producers are Gianluca Chakra, Mohamed Hefzy and Mario Haddad. Production companies are Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Empire Entertainment and Film-Clinic. Filming on the delayed pic, which has been postponed by Covid-19 and also political turmoil in Lebanon, has now been scheduled for February 2. Mayada Hiraki is executive producing.

Italian comedy-drama Perfect Strangers, released in 2016, was a box office hit, grossing north of $30M. The film has since achieved a Guinness World Record by becoming the most remade movie in history with 18 versions and...

Production, which was postponed twice in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, to shoot in early 2021.

Dubai-based Front Row Entertainment, Beirut-based Empire International and Cairo-based Film Clinic have unveiled a high-profile cast for their upcoming Arabic-language remake of Italian comedy Perfect Strangers and announced early 2021 shooting dates.

The all-star cast will combine Lebanese talents Nadine Labaki, George Khabbaz, Adel Karam and Diamand Bou Abboud with Egyptian star Mona Zaki and Jordan’s Eyad Nassar, who is also a star of mainstream Egyptian cinema.

Produced by Medusa Film, Leone Film Group and Lotus Productions, Paolo Genovese’s comedy-drama Perfect Strangers grossed more than...

Production, which was postponed twice in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, to shoot in early 2021.

Dubai-based Front Row Entertainment, Beirut-based Empire International and Cairo-based Film Clinic have unveiled a high-profile cast for their upcoming Arabic-language remake of Italian comedy Perfect Strangers and announced early 2021 shooting dates.

The all-star cast will combine Lebanese talents Nadine Labaki, George Khabbaz, Adel Karam and Diamand Bou Abboud with Egyptian star Mona Zaki and Jordan’s Eyad Nassar, who is also a star of mainstream Egyptian cinema.

Produced by Medusa Film, Leone Film Group and Lotus Productions, Paolo Genovese’s comedy-drama Perfect Strangers grossed more than...

Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and filmmaker who landed an Oscar nomination as director of 2018’s record-smashing feature Capernaum, has been cast in the upcoming Arabic language remake of hit Italian drama Perfect Strangers.

Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).

First announced in late 2018, the Perfect ...

Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and filmmaker who landed an Oscar nomination as director of 2018’s record-smashing feature Capernaum, has been cast in the upcoming Arabic language remake of hit Italian drama Perfect Strangers.

Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).

First announced in late 2018, the Perfect Strangers...

Oscar-winning playwright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton feted with Ciff’s Golden Pyramid Lifetime Achievement prize.

A streamlined edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) kicked off on Wednesday evening with a special video message of solidarity and support for the event and its director Mohamed Hefzy from the heads of the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals.

“I wish I was there with you tonight attending the opening ceremony,” said Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera, who was one of the few A-list festival directors able to hold a physical edition this year. “We need cinema and we need to show it is alive.

The Cairo Film Festival kicks off its 42nd edition Wednesday as a mostly physical event with the Middle East premiere of Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his hit stage play “The Father,” for which co-writer Christopher Hampton and actor Rufus Sewell are expected in attendance.

“I think it’s one of the best films of the year,” fest president Mohamed Hefzy tells Variety. “We felt that the way the subject (dementia) is treated is extremely humane and very cinematic,” he added, noting that “Father” is a great opener since it is “a very accessible film for a broader audience.”

The socially-distanced opening ceremony of the grande dame of the Arab world’s fests will take place in the Cairo Opera House’s open-air theater, which is being called The We Theater, where other expected attendees will include Russian master Alexander Sokurov (“Russian Ark”), who is presiding over this year’s main jury,...

Egyptian show Tough Luck will feature an all-star Arab cast.

Middle East and north Africa distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is in production on its first regional television venture in the form of Tough Luck, an Egyptian sitcom lead by Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim.

The company is financing and producing the Arabic-language project with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Shadows Communications, the production arm of producer Ehab Sergany [pictured right] and actor Ahmad Helmy.

Helmy will have guest appearances in the show, joining a cast that is also due to include Ahmad Sakka, Mona Zaki, Mai Kassab, Ahmad Fahmi, Shiko, Nicole Saba, Hisham Majed, Baoiomy Fouad, Hassan Al Radad and others.

Director and writer is Akram Fareed, known for hit 2007 romance Omar & Salma.

Singers Mohammed Fouad, Bousi, Hisham Abbas, Mustapha Qamar and belly-dancer Fifi Abdo will also feature.

The show depicts a comedy of errors befalling residents in a dilapidated tenement of Cairo’s fifth district, as a series...

Egyptian show Tough Luck will feature an all-star Arab cast.

Middle East and north Africa distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is in production on its first regional television venture in the form of Tough Luck, an Egyptian sitcom lead by Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim.

The company is financing and producing the project with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Shadows Communications, the production arm of producer Ehab Sergany and actor Ahmad Helmy [pictured right].

Helmy will have guest appearances in the show, joining a cast that is also due to include Ahmad Sakka, Mona Zaki, Mai Kassab, Ahmad Fahmi, Shiko, Nicole Saba, Hisham Majed, Baoiomy Fouad, Hassan Al Radad and others.

Singers Mohammed Fouad, Bousi, Hisham Abbas, Mustapha Qamar and belly-dancer Fifi Abdo will also feature.

The show depicts a comedy of errors befalling residents in a dilapidated tenement of Cairo’s fifth district, as a series of handymen, labourers and nannies attempt to fix the crumbling building...