As Germany prepares for a general election, Berlin International Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle has raised concerns about the growing influence of the far-right AfD party. Speaking ahead of the vote, she addressed the potential impact on the festival’s direction.
“I don’t know anyone that has an interest in a pluralistic society that values difference, that isn’t worried about what’s happening with the rise of the far-right,” she said. “It’s about closing down and fearing difference. I’m as worried as a lot of other people are here.”
Asked whether a shift in government would affect her role, she explained that it would depend on whether she could continue shaping the event as intended. “I’m here at the Berlinale to build a dynamic, international film festival that shows off German cinema on an international stage and also energizes local audiences,” she said. “But if...
“I don’t know anyone that has an interest in a pluralistic society that values difference, that isn’t worried about what’s happening with the rise of the far-right,” she said. “It’s about closing down and fearing difference. I’m as worried as a lot of other people are here.”
Asked whether a shift in government would affect her role, she explained that it would depend on whether she could continue shaping the event as intended. “I’m here at the Berlinale to build a dynamic, international film festival that shows off German cinema on an international stage and also energizes local audiences,” she said. “But if...
- 2/22/2025
- by Naser Nahandian
- Gazettely
Exclusive: Mad Celebrity, the talent management and promotion arm of Cairo-based Mad Solutions, has Sudanese actress Islam Mubarak and Egyptian actor Adham Shukr as they touch down at the Berlin Film Festival.
Mubarak, made her name with her breakout performance in the Venice prize-winning 2019 drama You Will Die At Twenty.
She is in Berlin with Karim El Shennawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family, which world premiered in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film last December and now makes its European premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus sidebar.
Shukr, stars in Mohamed Rashad’s workplace thriller The Settlement which world premieres on Tuesday as part of the new competitive Perspectives section aimed at first films.
He will be represented by Mad Rising Celebrity, the division that promotes the careers of burgeoning talents.
The two Berlinale stars join a growing clientele that spans established superstars and emerging talents.Other recent...
Mubarak, made her name with her breakout performance in the Venice prize-winning 2019 drama You Will Die At Twenty.
She is in Berlin with Karim El Shennawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family, which world premiered in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film last December and now makes its European premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus sidebar.
Shukr, stars in Mohamed Rashad’s workplace thriller The Settlement which world premieres on Tuesday as part of the new competitive Perspectives section aimed at first films.
He will be represented by Mad Rising Celebrity, the division that promotes the careers of burgeoning talents.
The two Berlinale stars join a growing clientele that spans established superstars and emerging talents.Other recent...
- 2/17/2025
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Screen can unveil a first look at Mohamed Rashad’s The Settlement, which is set to world premiere in the new competitive Perspectives strand at the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival.
Inspired by true events, the story follows two brothers — a 23-year-old troublemaker and his 12-year-old brother — who live in a marginalised community of Alexandria, Egypt. The pair are offered jobs by the local factory after their father’s death in the workplace as compensation for their loss and in lieu of pursuing legal action. But as they navigate their new roles, they begin to question whether their father’s death was truly accidental.
Inspired by true events, the story follows two brothers — a 23-year-old troublemaker and his 12-year-old brother — who live in a marginalised community of Alexandria, Egypt. The pair are offered jobs by the local factory after their father’s death in the workplace as compensation for their loss and in lieu of pursuing legal action. But as they navigate their new roles, they begin to question whether their father’s death was truly accidental.
- 2/12/2025
- ScreenDaily
Mad World, the global sales arm of pan-Arab indie outfit Mad Solutions, has acquired international rights to Egyptian director Mohamed Rashad’s “The Settlement” ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
Inspired by a true story, “The Settlement” – which will launch from Berlin’s new Perspectives section – follows two brothers, the 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and 12-year-old Maro, who live in a marginalized community in Alexandria. After the death of their father in a factory workplace accident they are hired by the same factory as “compensation” for their loss in lieu of them pursuing legal action.
As they navigate their new jobs, they begin to question whether their father’s death was truly accidental and how to go about settling the matter.
The social thriller marks Rashad’s narrative feature film debut following his 2016 documentary “Little Eagles” which explored 1970s leftist activism in Egypt from the perspective of...
Inspired by a true story, “The Settlement” – which will launch from Berlin’s new Perspectives section – follows two brothers, the 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and 12-year-old Maro, who live in a marginalized community in Alexandria. After the death of their father in a factory workplace accident they are hired by the same factory as “compensation” for their loss in lieu of them pursuing legal action.
As they navigate their new jobs, they begin to question whether their father’s death was truly accidental and how to go about settling the matter.
The social thriller marks Rashad’s narrative feature film debut following his 2016 documentary “Little Eagles” which explored 1970s leftist activism in Egypt from the perspective of...
- 1/23/2025
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The competition line-up for the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival is being announced at a press conference at 11am Cet (10am GMT).
Scroll down for line-up
New festival director Tricia Tuttle is revealing the titles for the Competition and new Perspectives strand alongside co-directors of film programming Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz.
The announcement is being live-streamed on the festival’s social channels. Watch it live above.
Screen will update this page with the titles as they are announced. Refresh the page for latest updates.
As previously announced, the festival will open with Tom Tykwer’s Special Gala out of competition selection The Light.
Scroll down for line-up
New festival director Tricia Tuttle is revealing the titles for the Competition and new Perspectives strand alongside co-directors of film programming Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz.
The announcement is being live-streamed on the festival’s social channels. Watch it live above.
Screen will update this page with the titles as they are announced. Refresh the page for latest updates.
As previously announced, the festival will open with Tom Tykwer’s Special Gala out of competition selection The Light.
- 1/21/2025
- ScreenDaily
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has selected 44 projects for its 2024 spring grants cycle, including Mahdi Fleifel’s To A Land Unknown, which has its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes next Wednesday, May 22.
Fleifel’s fiction feature debut is a crime thriller about a Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of Athens society, who seeks revenge on the smuggler who ripped him off.
Scroll down for the full list of grants
Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Fleifel studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School, and previously made 2012 feature-length documentary A World Not Ours, which played at the Berlinale and Cph:dox.
Fleifel’s fiction feature debut is a crime thriller about a Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of Athens society, who seeks revenge on the smuggler who ripped him off.
Scroll down for the full list of grants
Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Fleifel studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School, and previously made 2012 feature-length documentary A World Not Ours, which played at the Berlinale and Cph:dox.
- 5/17/2024
- ScreenDaily
Six co-productions will each receive more than 60,000 in support.
Upcoming features from Guatemala’s Cesar Diaz and Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara, both winners of the Camera d’Or at Cannes, are among six co-productions to receive support from the Hubert Bals Fund.
The projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen will each receive 60,800 from the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) Hbf+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022.
The projects will be awarded through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
Jayasundara is the selection’s most prolific filmmaker and is supported for his latest feature,...
Upcoming features from Guatemala’s Cesar Diaz and Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara, both winners of the Camera d’Or at Cannes, are among six co-productions to receive support from the Hubert Bals Fund.
The projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen will each receive 60,800 from the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) Hbf+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022.
The projects will be awarded through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
Jayasundara is the selection’s most prolific filmmaker and is supported for his latest feature,...
- 9/12/2022
- 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 Red Sea International Film Festival’s selection of 12 projects from new and exciting voices from Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab region selected for the Red Sea Lodge, a mentoring program in collaboration with the Torino Film Lab, is a key part of the Festival’s drive to support and promote talent.
At the first edition of the Festival in December, The Red Sea Lodge 2021 winners The Zarqa Girl by Zaid Abuhamdan and The Photographer of Madina by Dalyah Bakheet each received a grant of US 100,000.
The Red Sea Lodge schedule is made up of 5 intensive labs designed to take a diversity of talent at the early stages of their career through the essentials of filmmaking to bring authentic stories to the screen.
The 8 month-program, designed to nurture and support emerging talent, will also improve access to Arab content and drive the potential of Arab talent on the international stage. The final workshop will take place during the second edition of the Festival which is scheduled to run from 1–10 December in Jeddah.
Of the 12 projects selected, 6 are from Saudi Arabia while the other projects are from Egypt, Algeria, and Lebanon. 50 of them are directed, produced, and written by women. As the Saudi Film industry continues to flourish and strives to become the Middle East’s film production hub, cinemas are reporting exponential growth and international productions are heading to shoot in the Kingdom this is an undoubtedly an opportune time for filmmakers breaking into the industry.
The selection committee features leading industry experts, including Savina Neirotti; Executive Director, TorinoFilmLab, Violeta Bava; Head of Studies, TorinoFilmLab, Jumana Zahid; Red Sea Lodge Manager, Shivani Pandya Malhotra; Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival, Antoine Khalife; Director of the Arab Program, Red Sea International Film Festival, and Kaleem Aftab; Director of International Programming, Red Sea International Film Festival.
Also supporting the committee is Faiza Amba; Saudi Arabian film writer-director; Mohammad Sayed; Egyptian film critic and scriptwriter and Ziad Seaibi; Lebanese actor and lecturer at the Notre Dame University.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival, said: “Together with the Torino Film Lab we are thrilled to be unveiling the next 12 unique projects for The Red Sea Lodge. The feedback from past participants has been very encouraging and this year’s selection is an exciting slate of projects with bold cultural and social ambitions from a diverse selection of voices. The Red Sea Lodge is now building momentum and proving to be a vital support initiative which helps Arab talent to reach new heights in their film careers and ultimately amplify the impact of Saudi and Arab film around the world.”
The selected projects from Saudi Arabia are:
Seasons of Love & War — based on the novel ‘Divers of the Desert’ written by Amal Alfaran, Director/Screenplay Hana Alomair, Co-Writer/Producer Soha Samir.
A Last Argument Against Youth: Writer — Director Mohemmed Algbreen, producer Raghad Bajbaa.
The Crow Nest — Writer/Director Feras Almusharrei, Producer Razan Al Soghayer, Writer Taqwa Ali.
Al Qais — Writer/Director Lujain Hussain, Writer — Producer Abdulrahman Hakeem.
Tahweedah — Writer/Director Omar Al Omirat, Producer Asd Alkarimi.
Yajuj: Curse Of Iram — Director Fahmi Farahat, Producer Jomana Alquraish, Writer Murad Amayreh.
Projects from the wider Arab world:
The Settlement — Egypt — France; Writer/Director Mohamed Rashad, Producer Hala Lotfy.
A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers — Algeria — France; Writer/Director Sofia Djama, Producer Aurélie Turc.
Cain And Abel — Egypt — USA — France; Director Dina Amer, Producer Karim Amer, Writer Omar Mullick.
Dogmas — France — Algeria; Writer/Director Salah Issaad, Producer Taqiyeddine Issaad.
Bubblegum Brigades — Lebanon; Director Samah El Kadi, Producer Michelle Ayoub, Writer Rani Nasr.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore — Egypt; Writer/Director Morad Mostafa, Producer Sawsan Yusuf.
The second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival will run in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from December 1–10, 2022.
At the first edition of the Festival in December, The Red Sea Lodge 2021 winners The Zarqa Girl by Zaid Abuhamdan and The Photographer of Madina by Dalyah Bakheet each received a grant of US 100,000.
The Red Sea Lodge schedule is made up of 5 intensive labs designed to take a diversity of talent at the early stages of their career through the essentials of filmmaking to bring authentic stories to the screen.
The 8 month-program, designed to nurture and support emerging talent, will also improve access to Arab content and drive the potential of Arab talent on the international stage. The final workshop will take place during the second edition of the Festival which is scheduled to run from 1–10 December in Jeddah.
Of the 12 projects selected, 6 are from Saudi Arabia while the other projects are from Egypt, Algeria, and Lebanon. 50 of them are directed, produced, and written by women. As the Saudi Film industry continues to flourish and strives to become the Middle East’s film production hub, cinemas are reporting exponential growth and international productions are heading to shoot in the Kingdom this is an undoubtedly an opportune time for filmmakers breaking into the industry.
The selection committee features leading industry experts, including Savina Neirotti; Executive Director, TorinoFilmLab, Violeta Bava; Head of Studies, TorinoFilmLab, Jumana Zahid; Red Sea Lodge Manager, Shivani Pandya Malhotra; Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival, Antoine Khalife; Director of the Arab Program, Red Sea International Film Festival, and Kaleem Aftab; Director of International Programming, Red Sea International Film Festival.
Also supporting the committee is Faiza Amba; Saudi Arabian film writer-director; Mohammad Sayed; Egyptian film critic and scriptwriter and Ziad Seaibi; Lebanese actor and lecturer at the Notre Dame University.
Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival, said: “Together with the Torino Film Lab we are thrilled to be unveiling the next 12 unique projects for The Red Sea Lodge. The feedback from past participants has been very encouraging and this year’s selection is an exciting slate of projects with bold cultural and social ambitions from a diverse selection of voices. The Red Sea Lodge is now building momentum and proving to be a vital support initiative which helps Arab talent to reach new heights in their film careers and ultimately amplify the impact of Saudi and Arab film around the world.”
The selected projects from Saudi Arabia are:
Seasons of Love & War — based on the novel ‘Divers of the Desert’ written by Amal Alfaran, Director/Screenplay Hana Alomair, Co-Writer/Producer Soha Samir.
A Last Argument Against Youth: Writer — Director Mohemmed Algbreen, producer Raghad Bajbaa.
The Crow Nest — Writer/Director Feras Almusharrei, Producer Razan Al Soghayer, Writer Taqwa Ali.
Al Qais — Writer/Director Lujain Hussain, Writer — Producer Abdulrahman Hakeem.
Tahweedah — Writer/Director Omar Al Omirat, Producer Asd Alkarimi.
Yajuj: Curse Of Iram — Director Fahmi Farahat, Producer Jomana Alquraish, Writer Murad Amayreh.
Projects from the wider Arab world:
The Settlement — Egypt — France; Writer/Director Mohamed Rashad, Producer Hala Lotfy.
A Quarter To Thursday In Algiers — Algeria — France; Writer/Director Sofia Djama, Producer Aurélie Turc.
Cain And Abel — Egypt — USA — France; Director Dina Amer, Producer Karim Amer, Writer Omar Mullick.
Dogmas — France — Algeria; Writer/Director Salah Issaad, Producer Taqiyeddine Issaad.
Bubblegum Brigades — Lebanon; Director Samah El Kadi, Producer Michelle Ayoub, Writer Rani Nasr.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore — Egypt; Writer/Director Morad Mostafa, Producer Sawsan Yusuf.
The second edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival will run in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from December 1–10, 2022.
- 5/8/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
12 upcoming films from the Middle East and North Africa will be supported by project and talent incubator.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the 12 projects selected for this year’s edition of its Red Sea Lodge project and talent development programme.
Of the 12 projects selected, six are from Saudi Arabia while the other projects are from Egypt, Algeria, and Lebanon, with 50% of the participants directed, produced, and written by women
The selection includes Saudi director and writer Hana Alomair’s feature directorial debut Seasons Of Love And War. The love triangle tale set in an...
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the 12 projects selected for this year’s edition of its Red Sea Lodge project and talent development programme.
Of the 12 projects selected, six are from Saudi Arabia while the other projects are from Egypt, Algeria, and Lebanon, with 50% of the participants directed, produced, and written by women
The selection includes Saudi director and writer Hana Alomair’s feature directorial debut Seasons Of Love And War. The love triangle tale set in an...
- 3/15/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
In his feature film debut, “The Settlement,” writer-director Mohamed Rashad tackles the timely issue of labor abuses in Egypt, a subject that is close to his heart.
Inspired by a true story, the film, set in Alexandria, follows two brothers, the 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and 12-year-old Maro, who are hired at a blade factory as “compensation” for the accidental death of their father. Aware of the hostile young man’s bad reputation, the factory workers expect him to take revenge on Moustafa, the man responsible for their father’s death, with whom the brothers are forced to work.
An Egyptian-French co-production between Cairo-based independent collective Hassala Films and Caracteres Productions in Paris, “The Settlement” is among eight projects selected earlier this year as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Netherlands Film Festival’s BoostNL film development program. The film has also received support from the IFFR...
Inspired by a true story, the film, set in Alexandria, follows two brothers, the 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and 12-year-old Maro, who are hired at a blade factory as “compensation” for the accidental death of their father. Aware of the hostile young man’s bad reputation, the factory workers expect him to take revenge on Moustafa, the man responsible for their father’s death, with whom the brothers are forced to work.
An Egyptian-French co-production between Cairo-based independent collective Hassala Films and Caracteres Productions in Paris, “The Settlement” is among eight projects selected earlier this year as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Netherlands Film Festival’s BoostNL film development program. The film has also received support from the IFFR...
- 1/8/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
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