The Cinemas Independent Film Festival in Abu Dhabi provided an opportunity for its fans to watch the Syrian artist Kinda Alloush in two films starring her participating in the festival: Bus 22, an international co-production between the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan directed by Wendy Bednarz, in its first showing in the Emirates, and the film Exodus, produced by The United Kingdom, Syria and France, directed by Soudad Kaadan. Both films are distributed by MAD Solutions.
The film Exodus was screened on Friday, May 24 at 7 pm, while Bus 22 was screened on Sunday, May 26 at 7 pm, followed by a panel discussion in which director Wendy Bednarz and producer Nadia Aliwat shared with the audience some exclusive behind-the-scenes stories about their journey while filming the film.
In the movie Bus 22, Kinda plays the role of the school principal responsible for the death of a girl on a school bus. In an attempt to protect her school from scandal, she offers blood money to the child’s family and approaches the deceased child’s surviving sister, perhaps as a way to absolve herself of guilt that she cannot bear.
In the film Exodus, Kinda plays the role of 14-year-old Zeina’s mother, who, when the ceiling of her room is destroyed by a missile during the Syrian conflict, is forced to sleep under the stars for the first time and make friends with Amer, the boy next door. As the violence escalates, her mother, Hala (Kinda Alloush), insists on leaving and enters into a conflict with her husband, Moataz (Samer Al-Masry), who refuses to become a refugee and prevents his family from leaving the house.
About the movie Bus 22
The film Bus 22, directed by Wendy Bednarz and starring Kinda Alloush, is the first film produced by the famous OSN platform and was recently broadcast on the platform. It also began its commercial release in cinemas throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and will soon be released in cinemas in the United Arab Emirates. It revolves around the journey of a mother who delves into grief over the loss of her child and her quest for forgiveness while exploring themes of alienation, connection, and reflecting on the experiences of individuals living in a multicultural environment.
The film began its tour with its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, and the film continued its journey at several festivals, where it was able to attract the attention of audiences and critics at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival in India and recently at the Diorama International Film Festival in the Emirates. The film also won its first screening in Africa with the Best Film award at the Jubaj Festival. Film Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa, and recently won its second award in its tour of international film festivals, where it won the World Vision Award for Best Feature Film at the Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival in San Jose, California.
The film is written and directed by Wendy Bednarz and stars Kinda Alloush and Tannishtha Chatterjee, who won the Best Actress award at several international festivals, including the British Independent Film Awards for her role in the British film BRICK LANE, as well as Bollywood star Amit Syal, known for the famous series INSIDE EDGE, which was Nominated for the International Emmy Awards in 2018, Arushi Loud, editing by Michelle Tian, and director of photography, Sufyan Al-Fani.
MAD World is responsible for international sales of the film, while MAD Distribution is responsible for distribution in the Arab world. The film is co-produced by the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and produced by Jordanian producer Nadia Aliwat, founder of Screen Project, who is famous for producing and co-writing the Jordanian film When Mona Lisa Laughed. Along with Guneet Monga, founder of Sikhya Entertainment, she is an Indian film producer, Academy Award winner, and BAFTA Award nominee.
About the movie Exodus
The film had its world premiere in the Orizzonti Extra Competition at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award and the Lanterna Magica Award awarded by the Cinicerkuli National Socio-Cultural Youth Association. The film continued to make its mark in its long run, showing at over 20 prestigious international film festivals and winning It has won numerous awards including the Amnesty International Award at the MedFilm Festival. Furthermore, the film was a commercial success in Arabic-speaking countries, including Egypt and Qatar.
The film was written and directed by Soudad Kaadan and filmed in Turkey. It stars Kinda Alloush, Samer Al-Masry, Hala Zein, Nizar Al-Ani, and Darina Al-Jundi, and was filmed by the famous director of photography, Helene Louvre.
MAD Distribution is responsible for distributing the film in the Arab world, while MK2 is responsible for worldwide sales of the film. While it is distributed in France by Pyramide. The film was produced by KAF Productions (Soudad Kaadan), Berkeley Media Group (U-Fei Suen), and co-produced by X Nilo (Mark Bordor), and its production was financed by FILM4 and Star Collective.
Syrian star Kinda Alloush has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning two decades, during which she starred in many prominent films and television series, dominated the hearts of millions of fans in Egypt and the Arab world, and left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
Among her prominent television works is the series “Ahl Cairo”, for which she won the Murex d’Or Award for Best Actress in 2010. Friendly Fire, for which she won the Award of Excellence at the 2013 Academy Awards for Arts; And the covenant (permissible speech).
As for her most prominent films, they include the Netflix film The Two Swimmers; Egyptian films Welad Al Aam, Al Maslahah, La Mashaa, and the highest-grossing romantic film in the history of Egyptian cinema, Hepta: The Last Lecture (2016), to name a few.
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