Film Clinic Indie Distribution secures MENA Rights to Mahdi Fleifel’s – Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Upcoming Film “To A Land Unknown”
Film Clinic Indie Distribution ; an independent distribution company based in Cairo and Abu Dhabi – boards the Palestinian film “To A Land Unknown” by the Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel as MENA Distributors while the International Sales are handled by Salaud Morisset. The film is set to World Premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 77th Cannes Film Festival scheduled to take place between May (14-25).
The film highlights the tragic reality of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, especially in Ain Al-Hilweh, South Lebanon. “To a Land Unknown” tells the story of the desperate attempts of two Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens to find a way to reach Germany. Chatila and Reda are saving to pay for fake passports to get out of Athens. When Reda loses their hard-earned cash to his drug addiction, Chatila hatches an extreme plan, which involves them posing as smugglers and taking hostages in an effort to get him and his best friend out of their hopeless environment before it is too late.
Mohamed Hefzy, Founder of Film Clinic & Film Clinic Indie Distribution, stated, “I was incredibly moved by this story of two young men desperately searching for a better life. Given the state of the world and our conflicted region, it could not come at a better time, and we are very proud to be a part of Mahdi’s journey in bringing it to the world..”
“To A Land Unknown“ is a European co-production between Geoff Arbourne of the U.K.’s Inside Out Films and Fleifel’s Nakba Filmworks, Morisset from France and Germany’s Salaud Morisset, Maria Drandaki from Greece’s Homemade Films, and Layla Meijman and Maarten van der Ven for the Netherlands’ Studio Ruba.
The other co-producers are: ERT, Metafora Production and The Red Sea Fund. The film received support from the Greek Film Center, the NFF+HBF co-production scheme, CNC’s Aide au Cinéma du Monde, ZDF/Arte, ZDF/DKF and the Doha Film Institute.
Mahdi Fleifel is a Palestinian-Danish director who is regarded as one of the most prominent Palestinian directors. He presented numerous films which focused on the life of Palestinians and their sufferings, the most significant of which is first feature documentary “A World Not Ours” (2012), which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and Berlinale in 2013, as well as Cinefundación in 2013. Subsequently, Fleifel directed several short films, including: “The Return of a Man“, which received the Silver Bear in Berlin in 2016, “Drowning Man“, Cannes Film Festival 2017 nominee, and “I Signed the Petition“, the 2018 IDFA Award winner. He also won over 30 prestigious awards.
Film Clinic Indie Distribution also revealed an exhilarating lineup of their films – including Academy Award Nominee Meryam Joobeur’s “Who Do I Belong to” that world premiered in Berlinale earlier this year, in addition to Saudi titles; Abdulaziz Alshlahei’s “Hobal”, “Hijra” by Shahad Ameen (Scales) and Film Clinic produced “Basma” by Fatima AlBanawi releasing June 6th exclusively on Netflix. In addition to distributing Film Clinic’s productions of the year – Khaled Mansour’s “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo“, Jaylan Auf’s “The Inevitable Journey to Find A Wedding Dress” , Mohamed Siam’s “Colonia” and “Abdo and Saneya” by Omar Bakry