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Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s “Aïcha” has been acquired by several distributors ahead of its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival. The Party Film Sales is handling international sales. Variety debuts its trailer here.

Distributors attached include Cineart for Benelux, La Aventura Audiovisual for Spain, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Jour2fête for France, I Wonder for Italy and Hakka Distribution for Tunisia. Cinewaves has taken theatrical rights for Middle East and North Africa, and Sunnyland Film, a member of A.R.T. Group, has taken digital sales rights for Middle East and North Africa.

The film follows Aya, who is in her late twenties. She feels trapped in her life with her parents in southern Tunisia, seeing no prospects for change. One day, the minivan she commutes in daily between her town and the hotel where she works crashes, leaving her as the sole survivor. Realizing this could be...

After the straight horror content of 2018 narrative feature debut “Dachra,” which was released in the U.S. just six months ago, Abdelhamid Bouchnak aims for a more complex, unclassifiable mix of fantasy and drama in “Golden Butterfly.” . But its thematic ambition and visual panache further advance the writer-director as a significant emerging talent in the region.

A head-on opening sequence finds two bound and bloodied men being tortured, then executed, apparent rough justice for crimes we only learn about much later. Likely as not connected to this scene is protagonist Moaz (Mohamed Souissi), a hulking 30-ish cop who storms around his apartment like his default emotion is “Wanting to punch something.” Unsurprisingly, then, he soon learns he’s being suspended from duty for being “too angry these days,” a mild way of describing God knows what professional misconduct.

That news doesn’t improve his mood, natch. But he’s distracted...

Stars: Hela Ayed, Yassmine Dimassi, Aziz Jabali, Bilel Slatnia | Written and Directed by Abdelhamid Bouchnak

The feature debut of writer-director Abdelhamid Bouchnak, Dachra is a Tunisian folk horror that has broken box-office records in its native North Africa. Impressively acted and chillingly atmospheric, it represents a formidable calling card.

Yassmine Dimassi, Aziz Jabali and Bilel Slatnia play Yasmine, Walid and Bilel, three journalism students who are tasked with reporting an exclusive story. When they hear rumours of a woman called Mongia (Hela Ayed), who was found mutilated 25 years ago and locked away in an asylum, they decide to investigate her story, but an interview in her cell doesn’t go as planned. Adopting a different tack, they travel to the spot where she was supposedly found and encounter an isolated country village, full of silent women and a suspiciously large amount of meat. Encouraged to stay overnight by a jovial,...

On-screen texts bookending “Dachra” claim this thriller is “inspired by true events,” and that “in North Africa hundreds of children are victims of acts of witchcraft.” Nonetheless, one might be forgiven for assuming this purported first-ever Tunisian foray into horror cinema is drawn less from local crimes or superstitions than from the familiar genre tropes of “The Blair Witch Project,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and umpteen other long-standing fan favorites.

Originality may indeed be scarce in writer-director Abdelhamid Bouchnak’s debut narrative feature. Yet this gory goulash of city slickers, creepy yokels, editorial jolts and cannibalism largely transcends its derivative basic elements, thanks to his astute, richly atmospheric handling. Dekanalog is releasing the film to U.S. theaters and virtual cinemas on July 9, nearly three years after its festival premiere — during which time “Dachra” became Tunisia’s biggest homegrown box office hit in a quarter century. That impact is unlikely to be duplicated elsewhere,...

Heading to theaters on July 9th, we have the brand new trailer for Dachra!

"Grisly, frightening, and stuffed with howling thrills, the new Tunisian horror film Dachra won over both Frightfest and the Venice Film Festival and is finally making its stateside debut. Equal parts Midsommar and The Blair Witch Project, Dachra begins with a simple classroom assignment and spins through double plot twists into high-tension cannibal sorcery.

Sent off with a documentary video assignment, three journalism students decide to interview Mongia, seeking new clues about the cold case. Intrigued and perturbed by the deranged woman’s story, the trio take their camera to the scene of the crime deep in the woods, led by the headstrong young investigator Yassmine (scream queen par excellence Yassmine Dimassi).

Soon they are welcomed to a secluded, hushed village where goats have free rein and raw meat hangs drying in the wind. Captured with...

New Poster for Dachra: "Grisly, frightening, and stuffed with howling thrills, the new Tunisian horror film Dachra won over both Frightfest and the Venice Film Festival and is finally making its stateside debut. Equal parts Midsommar and The Blair Witch Project, Dachra begins with a simple classroom assignment and spins through double plot twists into high-tension cannibal sorcery.

Sent off with a documentary video assignment, three journalism students decide to interview Mongia, seeking new clues about the cold case. Intrigued and perturbed by the deranged woman’s story, the trio take their camera to the scene of the crime deep in the woods, led by the headstrong young investigator Yassmine (scream queen par excellence Yassmine Dimassi).

Soon they are welcomed to a secluded, hushed village where goats have free rein and raw meat hangs drying in the wind. Captured with a minimalist color palette in Hatem Nechi’s eerie...

Stars: Hela Ayed, Yassmine Dimassi, Aziz Jabali, Bilel Slatnia | Written and Directed by Abdelhamid Bouchnak

The feature debut of writer-director Abdelhamid Bouchnak, Dachra is a Tunisian folk horror that has broken box-office records in its native North Africa. Impressively acted and chillingly atmospheric, it represents a formidable calling card.

Yassmine Dimassi, Aziz Jabali and Bilel Slatnia play Yasmine, Walid and Bilel, three journalism students who are tasked with reporting an exclusive story. When they hear rumours of a woman called Mongia (Hela Ayed), who was found mutilated 25 years ago and locked away in an asylum, they decide to investigate her story, but an interview in her cell doesn’t go as planned. Adopting a different tack, they travel to the spot where she was supposedly found and encounter an isolated country village, full of silent women and a suspiciously large amount of meat. Encouraged to stay overnight by a jovial,...

Daily Dead was proud to once again sponsor and experience this year's Overlook Film Festival, which took place in the historic (and quite possibly haunted) confines of New Orleans. And with another year of immersive events, essential screenings, and live performances in the books, the Overlook Film Festival's 2019 audience and juried awards have been announced, and we've been provided with the full list to share with Daily Dead readers.

Press Release: - The Overlook Film Festival 2019 has come to an end on Sunday, June 2nd after bringing four days of horror films, immersive games, Vr exhibitions, panels and workshops in New Orleans. The festival reached an audience of over 3000 people and hosted over 60 filmmakers, actors, and producers including Elijah Wood, Robert Rodriguez, Mick Garris, Chelsea Stardust, and Paul Scheer over the weekend.

The Overlook Features Jury; Rolling Stone’s Film/TV editor David Fear; writer, director and fashion photographer Carter Smith...

Jim Jarmusch’s zombie pic The Dead Don’t Die, which will open the Cannes Film Festival next month, is set to make its U.S. premiere at the Overlook Film Festival, which kicks off May 30 and continues through June 2 in New Orleans. The news was announced today when the horror-centric fest unveiled third festival lineup.

In addition to the 41 films, the fest will feature television presentations, immersive presentations, virtual reality, interactive events, and live performances. This includes their closing night film The Lodge, a sneak preview of the forthcoming Universal Pictures horror Ma starring Octavia Spencer and a screening of DC Universe’s new series Swamp Thing. Robert Rodriguez will also be on hand to hold an educational master class on independent filmmaking before presenting his latest micro-budget independent effort Red 11 and a special screening of the ’90s sci-fi horror The Faculty.

“We’re so proud to unleash this terrifying lineup on audiences.

After Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy “The Dead Don’t Die” enjoys a snazzy red carpet premiere as the opening night selection of the Cannes Film Festival, its next stop will bring it to diehard genre fans. The movie will make its U.S. premiere as the opening night selection of The Overlook Festival, the New Orleans horror film festival that returns to the French Quarter for the second time on May 30.

The Focus Features release finds Jarmusch bringing his distinctive deadpan approach to supernatural circumstances for the second time, following 2013’s wistful vampire tale “Only Lovers Left Alive.” For “The Dead Don’t Die,” the auteur mainstay appears to be tipping his hat to George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” with the tale of small town characters facing the sudden threat of the undead. The cast includes Adam Driver and Bill Murray as police officers alongside Tilda Swinton...