Updated with juror names and winner of 2023 Points North Pitch.
Earlier: A first-time filmmaker has claimed the top prize at the 19th Annual Camden Film Festival in Maine, one of the country’s foremost all-documentary festivals.
Director Yousef Srouji earned the Harrell Award for Three Promises, a film set in the Occupied Territories. “At the start of the 2000s, the Israeli army retaliated against the second intifada in the West Bank,” notes a description of the documentary. “All the while, Suha, a mother of two young children, decides it’s time to start a film diary. Years later, her youngest son Yousef picks up the archive and discovers the difficult choices she faced then. The three promises, made and broken, evidence the strong love of a mother to her children, to her land, and to herself. The result is a reflexive act of love in a time capsule.”
‘Three Promises...
Earlier: A first-time filmmaker has claimed the top prize at the 19th Annual Camden Film Festival in Maine, one of the country’s foremost all-documentary festivals.
Director Yousef Srouji earned the Harrell Award for Three Promises, a film set in the Occupied Territories. “At the start of the 2000s, the Israeli army retaliated against the second intifada in the West Bank,” notes a description of the documentary. “All the while, Suha, a mother of two young children, decides it’s time to start a film diary. Years later, her youngest son Yousef picks up the archive and discovers the difficult choices she faced then. The three promises, made and broken, evidence the strong love of a mother to her children, to her land, and to herself. The result is a reflexive act of love in a time capsule.”
‘Three Promises...
- 9/19/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
A 17% increase in the number of delegates compared to 2022.
Maciek Hamela’s Ukrainian documentary In The Rearview won the main grand jury award in the international competition at Sheffield DocFest, which recorded a 17% increase in its delegate attendance for 2023.
In The Rearview, a Poland-France-Ukraine co-production, follows Ukrainian people fleeing their country in the days following last year’s invasion by Russia.
Scroll down for the feature film winners
A debut feature film for Polish director Hamela, it debuted at Poland’s Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in May, before screening in the Cannes Acid sidebar. Israel-based sales company Cinephil handles world sales.
Maciek Hamela’s Ukrainian documentary In The Rearview won the main grand jury award in the international competition at Sheffield DocFest, which recorded a 17% increase in its delegate attendance for 2023.
In The Rearview, a Poland-France-Ukraine co-production, follows Ukrainian people fleeing their country in the days following last year’s invasion by Russia.
Scroll down for the feature film winners
A debut feature film for Polish director Hamela, it debuted at Poland’s Docs Against Gravity Film Festival in May, before screening in the Cannes Acid sidebar. Israel-based sales company Cinephil handles world sales.
- 6/18/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
60 projects selected for the 30th edition of the industry meet.
IDFA Forum, the co-production and co-financing market of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, has selected 60 projects for its 2022 edition, including The Eternal Memory, a new feature from The Mole Agent director Maite Alberdi.
Produced by Alberdi’s Chilean company Micromundo Producciones and Pablo Larrain’s Chilean firm Fabula, the film is described by IDFA as “an intimate meditation on love and memory that observes a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s over a four-year period”.
Scroll down for the full list of IDFA projects
It is one of 22 projects in the market’s flagship Forum Pitch category,...
IDFA Forum, the co-production and co-financing market of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, has selected 60 projects for its 2022 edition, including The Eternal Memory, a new feature from The Mole Agent director Maite Alberdi.
Produced by Alberdi’s Chilean company Micromundo Producciones and Pablo Larrain’s Chilean firm Fabula, the film is described by IDFA as “an intimate meditation on love and memory that observes a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s over a four-year period”.
Scroll down for the full list of IDFA projects
It is one of 22 projects in the market’s flagship Forum Pitch category,...
- 10/6/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Funding
Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara and Guatemala’s César Díaz, winners of the Cannes Golden Camera for “The Forsaken Land” (2005) and “Nuestras madres” (2019) respectively, are among the recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) Hbf+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022.
Out of 25 applications, six projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been awarded a contribution of €60,000 each through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
Jayasundara is supported for “Turtle’s Gaze on Spying Stars”, set on a mysterious resort where the protagonist must quarantine and reckon with his past on his return to Sri Lanka, while Díaz gets it for “Fidelidad”, a love triangle set on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
In “The Station” by Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker Sara Ishaq (Oscar nominee for 2012’s “Karama Has No Walls”), the war in Yemen...
Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara and Guatemala’s César Díaz, winners of the Cannes Golden Camera for “The Forsaken Land” (2005) and “Nuestras madres” (2019) respectively, are among the recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) Hbf+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022.
Out of 25 applications, six projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been awarded a contribution of €60,000 each through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
Jayasundara is supported for “Turtle’s Gaze on Spying Stars”, set on a mysterious resort where the protagonist must quarantine and reckon with his past on his return to Sri Lanka, while Díaz gets it for “Fidelidad”, a love triangle set on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
In “The Station” by Yemeni-Scottish filmmaker Sara Ishaq (Oscar nominee for 2012’s “Karama Has No Walls”), the war in Yemen...
- 9/12/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The El Gouna Film Festival’s project development platform showcased 20 projects in development and post-production.
Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama’s unwanted pregnancy drama A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers and Palestinian-us filmmaker Hind Shoufani’s feature documentary work They Planted Strange Trees have scooped the top prizes at the CineGouna Platform.
Running October 16-21, within the framework of the El Gouna Film Festival, the platform’s CineGouna Springboard component showcased 20 projects in development and post-production.
The jury comprised Lebanese producer and film critic Mohamed Soueid, Nina Lath Gupta, the former managing director of India’s National Film and Television Development...
Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama’s unwanted pregnancy drama A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers and Palestinian-us filmmaker Hind Shoufani’s feature documentary work They Planted Strange Trees have scooped the top prizes at the CineGouna Platform.
Running October 16-21, within the framework of the El Gouna Film Festival, the platform’s CineGouna Springboard component showcased 20 projects in development and post-production.
The jury comprised Lebanese producer and film critic Mohamed Soueid, Nina Lath Gupta, the former managing director of India’s National Film and Television Development...
- 10/25/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Yomna Khattab’s “Fifty Meters” (Egypt) was the big winner at the CineGouna Platform, the El Gouna Film Festival’s industry arm created to support and empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers and help them find artistic and financial support.
This year, the CineGouna Platform disbursed awards worth $300,000 across 13 projects in development and seven films in post-production. The platform operates the SpringBoard and Bridge programs. The SpringBoard jury included Lebanese producer and film critic Mohamed Soueid, Nina Lath Gupta, former CEO of India’s National Film Development Corporation and Moroccan director and screenwriter Ismaël Ferroukhi.
“Fifty meters” won a $10,000 full film promotion package from The Cell Post Production, a $10,000 cash grant from Trend VFX, $10,000 from Synergy Films, $15,000 cash grant for script development from Mariam Naoum and Sard Writing Room, $5,000 worth of post-production services from Bee Media Productions, $10,000 from Cult, $1,000 for locations services from Clackett and a $7,000 master’s degree U.S.
This year, the CineGouna Platform disbursed awards worth $300,000 across 13 projects in development and seven films in post-production. The platform operates the SpringBoard and Bridge programs. The SpringBoard jury included Lebanese producer and film critic Mohamed Soueid, Nina Lath Gupta, former CEO of India’s National Film Development Corporation and Moroccan director and screenwriter Ismaël Ferroukhi.
“Fifty meters” won a $10,000 full film promotion package from The Cell Post Production, a $10,000 cash grant from Trend VFX, $10,000 from Synergy Films, $15,000 cash grant for script development from Mariam Naoum and Sard Writing Room, $5,000 worth of post-production services from Bee Media Productions, $10,000 from Cult, $1,000 for locations services from Clackett and a $7,000 master’s degree U.S.
- 10/22/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The fifth edition of project incubator event will showcase 20 projects in development and post-production.
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (October 14-22) has unveiled the selection of 20 projects in development and post-production from Arab filmmakers to be showcased at the fifth annual CineGouna Platform.
The platform will run from October 16-21.
The 13 projects in development include Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama’s second feature A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers, about a woman whose plans to deal with an unwanted pregnancy are derailed by other life events.
Djama’s debut film The Blessed made its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons...
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (October 14-22) has unveiled the selection of 20 projects in development and post-production from Arab filmmakers to be showcased at the fifth annual CineGouna Platform.
The platform will run from October 16-21.
The 13 projects in development include Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama’s second feature A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers, about a woman whose plans to deal with an unwanted pregnancy are derailed by other life events.
Djama’s debut film The Blessed made its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons...
- 9/17/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
While certainly many filmmakers and storytellers have tried, there are very few approaches which could describe the experience of war and the trauma in its aftermath. Iraq, a country which has been through a dictatorship as well as two wars and much social turmoil, has experienced much misery in its history, leaving a permanent mark on the country and its people. In his 2017 feature “The Journey”, Iraqi-Dutch director Mohamed Jabarah-Al Daradij creates a blend of drama and thriller with the purpose of telling a story about the wounds the war left behind, the physical as well as the psychological. In the end, he manages to give his view on Iraqi society and the nation, a powder keg-situation defined by the memory of the war and personal loss.
“The Journey” is screening at Arab Film Festival Berlin
One day before the annual Eid al-Fitr festival takes place the city of Baghdad...
“The Journey” is screening at Arab Film Festival Berlin
One day before the annual Eid al-Fitr festival takes place the city of Baghdad...
- 9/29/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Cherien Dabis among executive producers.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
- 6/18/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Cherien Dabis among executive producers.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
- 6/18/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Cherien Dabis among executive producers.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau will star in Reagent Media’s Iraq-set survival drama Outside The Wire, which Film Constellation will introduce to buyers at the Cannes virtual market.
UTA Independent Film Group represents North American rights to the story of an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves together in Iraq and must rely on each other to reach their final destination. Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star.
Outside The Wire marks the second screenplay from Paxton Winters (Pacified) and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
- 6/18/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Reagent Media has set Garrett Hedlund and Brady Jandreau for filmmaker Paxton Winters’ next feature, Outside the Wire, about an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves dependent on each other for their survival. The two are thrust together on a road trip through the perils of the new Iraq. What starts as a journey of hate, forces the men to face their fears and navigate each other to reach their final destination.
Outside the Wire is Winters’ second script, which was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star. Paula Linhares and Marcos Tellechea (Pacified) of Reagent Media are producing with Rick Rosenthal and Cherien Dabis serving as EPs. .Film Constellation is handling international rights with UTA Independent handling North American. Sales will launch at the upcoming Marché du Film Online.
Outside the Wire is Winters’ second script, which was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star. Paula Linhares and Marcos Tellechea (Pacified) of Reagent Media are producing with Rick Rosenthal and Cherien Dabis serving as EPs. .Film Constellation is handling international rights with UTA Independent handling North American. Sales will launch at the upcoming Marché du Film Online.
- 6/18/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Garrett Hedlund and “The Rider” star Brady Jandreau are set to star in an Iraq War drama from writer and director Paxton Winters called “Outside the Wire,” the film’s production company Reagent Media announced Thursday.
Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star in the film that will be presented to buyers at the Cannes Virtual Market. The film is the second script from Winters and was chosen as part of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
The story for “Outside the Wire” follows an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves dependent on each other for their survival, as they are thrust together on a road trip through the perils of the new Iraq. What starts as a journey of hate, will force the men to face their fears and navigate each other to reach their final destination.
Also Read: Natasha Lyonne, Trevante Rhodes Join Lee...
Zahraa Ghandour is also attached to star in the film that will be presented to buyers at the Cannes Virtual Market. The film is the second script from Winters and was chosen as part of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
The story for “Outside the Wire” follows an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves dependent on each other for their survival, as they are thrust together on a road trip through the perils of the new Iraq. What starts as a journey of hate, will force the men to face their fears and navigate each other to reach their final destination.
Also Read: Natasha Lyonne, Trevante Rhodes Join Lee...
- 6/18/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
“Mudbound’s” Garrett Hedlund and “The Rider’s” Brady Jandreau have signed on to star in writer/director Paxton Winters’ “Outside the Wire,” alongside Zahraa Ghandour (“Baghdad in My Shadow”). Film Constellation is handling international rights with UTA Independent handling North American. Sales will launch at next week’s Marché du Film Online.
The story follows an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves dependent on each other for their survival, as they are thrust together on a road trip through the perils of the new Iraq. What starts as a journey of hate, will force the men to face their fears and navigate each other to reach their final destination. The movie is Winters’ second script, and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Paula Linhares and Marcos Tellechea of Reagent Media will produce, following on from their collaboration with Winters on...
The story follows an American soldier and an Iraqi insurgent who find themselves dependent on each other for their survival, as they are thrust together on a road trip through the perils of the new Iraq. What starts as a journey of hate, will force the men to face their fears and navigate each other to reach their final destination. The movie is Winters’ second script, and was chosen to participate in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab.
Paula Linhares and Marcos Tellechea of Reagent Media will produce, following on from their collaboration with Winters on...
- 6/18/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Iraqi actress and filmmaker Zahraa Ghandour, who stars in the Locarno Festival screener “Baghdad in My Shadow,” by Iraqi-born Swiss filmmaker Samir, is making her first independent feature documentary about one of Iraq’s leading women’s rights advocates.
The film will explore the life of Hanaa Edwar, known as a fearless champion of human rights in Iraq since the 1960s. Edwar, who was forced to flee Iraq during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein after campaigning against human rights abuses, returned in 2003 and today continues her work as co-founder and chair of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, a human rights organization, and co-founder of the Iraqi Women’s Network.
“I decided that my first independent film should be about something I fully believe in, so I chose a woman that has inspired me for many years,” Ghandour told Variety.
The documentary will focus on Edwar, who is now in her mid-70s,...
The film will explore the life of Hanaa Edwar, known as a fearless champion of human rights in Iraq since the 1960s. Edwar, who was forced to flee Iraq during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein after campaigning against human rights abuses, returned in 2003 and today continues her work as co-founder and chair of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, a human rights organization, and co-founder of the Iraqi Women’s Network.
“I decided that my first independent film should be about something I fully believe in, so I chose a woman that has inspired me for many years,” Ghandour told Variety.
The documentary will focus on Edwar, who is now in her mid-70s,...
- 8/12/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Zahraa Ghandour is mesmerising as a would-be suicide bomber in Mohamed Al-Daradji’s smart, sympathetic ensemble piece
It’s the first night of Eid, in 2006, and a young woman named Sara (Zahraa Ghandour) steps into the newly reopened Baghdad Central Station, with explosives strapped to her body and an detonator switch in her shaking hand. Time seems to stand still, fade to white, loop backwards and start over.
Sara enters the station again, and perhaps what we’re seeing now is her in a part of the multiverse where a moment’s hesitation affords her a chance to understand exactly who would be hurt if she pressed the button, what’s at stake and what her own motives are. A chance encounter with low-level grifter Salam (Ameer Ali Jabarah) forces Sara to take him hostage. Salam tries to persuade Sara not to trigger the bomb, appealing to a deadened sense...
It’s the first night of Eid, in 2006, and a young woman named Sara (Zahraa Ghandour) steps into the newly reopened Baghdad Central Station, with explosives strapped to her body and an detonator switch in her shaking hand. Time seems to stand still, fade to white, loop backwards and start over.
Sara enters the station again, and perhaps what we’re seeing now is her in a part of the multiverse where a moment’s hesitation affords her a chance to understand exactly who would be hurt if she pressed the button, what’s at stake and what her own motives are. A chance encounter with low-level grifter Salam (Ameer Ali Jabarah) forces Sara to take him hostage. Salam tries to persuade Sara not to trigger the bomb, appealing to a deadened sense...
- 3/21/2019
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Iraqi director Mohamed Al-Daradji can remember the exact day he was held hostage by Al Qaeda: Dec 16, 2004. Al-Daradji and his film crew at the time had guns pointed at their heads, seconds away from death. It was during a time when he thought terrorists were only evil men. In the coming years, Al-Daradji realized there was something more sinister behind the madness.
“Usually the victims are women, but a lot of women since 2003 have become suicide bombers,” the director told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at a Q&A on Monday following a screening of his film, “The Journey” at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles. The film is Iraq’s entry into the Oscar foreign film race.
“Is she in control, or are they [Al Qaeda] in control?” is the question Al-Daradji sought to answer in “The Journey,” a film he was inspired to make after being taken hostage.
Also Read: Gerard Butler...
“Usually the victims are women, but a lot of women since 2003 have become suicide bombers,” the director told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at a Q&A on Monday following a screening of his film, “The Journey” at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles. The film is Iraq’s entry into the Oscar foreign film race.
“Is she in control, or are they [Al Qaeda] in control?” is the question Al-Daradji sought to answer in “The Journey,” a film he was inspired to make after being taken hostage.
Also Read: Gerard Butler...
- 11/27/2018
- by Omar Sanchez
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Switzerland-Germany-uk co-pro’s cast includes Zahraa Ghandour [pictured].
Baghdad-born, Swiss-based director Samir’s latest feature Baghdad In My Shadow, a thriller about Iraqi exiles living in north London, starts shooting on June 8.
Written and directed by Samir, the film will shoot over eight weeks in Baghdad, Zurich, London and Cologne, Germany.
The film is produced by Joël Jent, who also produced Samir’s Iraqi Odyssey.
The film is a Switzerland-Germany-uk co-production produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion with Coin Film and Ipso Facto Productions. The latter’s credits include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising.
The cast includes Haytham A. Ali Al Jadah (also a professor at the University of Baghdad), Iraqi newcomer Zahraa Ghandour, Kerry Fox, Meriam Abbas, Daniel Adegboyega and Felix Scott.
Baghdad-born, Swiss-based director Samir’s latest feature Baghdad In My Shadow, a thriller about Iraqi exiles living in north London, starts shooting on June 8.
Written and directed by Samir, the film will shoot over eight weeks in Baghdad, Zurich, London and Cologne, Germany.
The film is produced by Joël Jent, who also produced Samir’s Iraqi Odyssey.
The film is a Switzerland-Germany-uk co-production produced by Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion with Coin Film and Ipso Facto Productions. The latter’s credits include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising.
The cast includes Haytham A. Ali Al Jadah (also a professor at the University of Baghdad), Iraqi newcomer Zahraa Ghandour, Kerry Fox, Meriam Abbas, Daniel Adegboyega and Felix Scott.
- 5/19/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
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