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,...
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,...
- 2/28/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 2/19/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 5/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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,...
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,...
- 10/31/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 10/31/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 2/9/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
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...
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...
- 1/26/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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.
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.
- 1/25/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/21/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/21/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/14/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 12/8/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/5/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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,...
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,...
- 9/5/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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,...
“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,...
- 3/4/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/29/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/29/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/29/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 12/29/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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 ...
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 ...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
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...
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...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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.
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.
- 12/3/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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,...
“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,...
- 12/1/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 3/30/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 3/30/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95
Studio: Facets
Thought its title refers to the myths and lore of the Middle East, the 2009 Egyptian film drama Scheherazade: Tell me A Story tells a timely tale that could have been ripped from today’s headlines.
Hebba (Mona Zaki), a television talk-show host, produces a successful political program on a privately owned network. Her husband, Karim (Hassan El Raddad), is the deputy editor-in-chief of a government-controlled newspaper. When Karim’s promotion is threatened by his wife’s meddling in opposition politics on her program, he sweet-talks her into avoiding controversy and devoting her program to other topics. She soon begins a series of shows about women’s issues, revealing the stories of strong, resilient women who, like Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Nights, tell their tales to stay alive.
Directed by Yousry Nasrallah, Scheherazade: Tell me A Story played at a handful of international films festival,...
Price: DVD $29.95
Studio: Facets
Thought its title refers to the myths and lore of the Middle East, the 2009 Egyptian film drama Scheherazade: Tell me A Story tells a timely tale that could have been ripped from today’s headlines.
Hebba (Mona Zaki), a television talk-show host, produces a successful political program on a privately owned network. Her husband, Karim (Hassan El Raddad), is the deputy editor-in-chief of a government-controlled newspaper. When Karim’s promotion is threatened by his wife’s meddling in opposition politics on her program, he sweet-talks her into avoiding controversy and devoting her program to other topics. She soon begins a series of shows about women’s issues, revealing the stories of strong, resilient women who, like Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Nights, tell their tales to stay alive.
Directed by Yousry Nasrallah, Scheherazade: Tell me A Story played at a handful of international films festival,...
- 3/2/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Hebba (Mona Zaki) is sort of a sex pot Tim Russert. With bright red lips and tight Eurotrash-girl-reporter get-ups, she intimidates the powerful guests of her politically controversial late-night talk show by all but crawling across the desk to interrogate them. Newly married (for the second time, as is repeatedly pointed out, lest we forget that this is the apparently 30-something’s Last Chance At Love) to an ambitious flunky at a State-run newspaper, Hebba submits to her husband’s aggressive request that she tone down her implicit criticism of contemporary Egyptian government by devoting her show to “stuff you can’t blame the government for” –– at least until he secures a key promotion. After an encounter with a shopgirl who cuts a glamorous Western-esque swath by day only to don a hijab to walk through streets littered with burning trash at night, Hebba figures she can give her husband...
- 10/19/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Yousry Nasrallah cleverly re-imagines the Arabian Nights for the age of post-modernism, exhaustive politics, and female rights in Scheherazade Tell Me a Story. Utilizing conventions of soap operas and the flamboyant look but cunningly uncertain tone of Almodóvarian melodrama, Nasrallah and screenwriter Wahid Hamid fold three stories of female oppression into the meta-story of a highly polemic talk show hostess (Mona Zaki) being bullied by her husband's need to please the government in order to get a high level promotion. Like the most famous delayed-ending story in literary history, Scheherazade Tell Me a Story subsumes and postpones the hostess's inner turmoil of ethics and love by dramatizing the supposedly apolitical stories of “real women” as the hostess tries to steer her television show away from the unwanted attention and general misery of political commentary.
Beautifully brought to life by Nasrallah's double belief in but sly exaggeration and tweaking of melodramatic forms,...
Beautifully brought to life by Nasrallah's double belief in but sly exaggeration and tweaking of melodramatic forms,...
- 10/19/2009
- MUBI
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