Mad Solutions to Launch Global Sales Company Mad World For Arab Cinema in Cannes

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s  Four Daughters and Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s drama Goodbye Julia topped the prizes at the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which were announced on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sudanese first-timer Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” a timely morality tale that takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan, has won top awards for both fest feature film and best screenplay at the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films that will be handed out today at the Plage des Palmes in Cannes. The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the war-ravaged country.

It’s a momentous Cannes for Cairo-based film professionals Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as they mark the 15th anniversary of the creation of marketing and distribution company MAD Solutions and the 10th anniversary of spin-off the Arab Cinema Center (ACC).

“When we leap into the unknown, we prove that we are free,” says Cesar Catalina, the futuristic architect at the beating heart of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (to give it its full title), a mad eco-sci-fi blockbuster some 40 years in the making. Catalina says it several times, and it’s one of the more succinct aphorisms that he spouts in a script that is stuffed with seemingly random literary allusions from the likes of Petrarch, Crassus and Marcus Aurelius to Goethe, Shakespeare, H.G. Wells and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Watching Anthony Mann’s The Fall of the Roman Empire and eating cheese afterwards would be the only way to replicate its fever-dream grandeur, a series of stunning images, carried along by the loosest of plots, that pontificate on the self-destructive nature of humankind, the only species capable of civilizing itself to death.

EXCLUSIVE: Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has acquired international rights outside of North America for Michael Felker’s Things Will Be Different.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Untamed Talent, the recently launched Arab world management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba is rebranding as 75East and bringing on board Shams Mohajerani, a former acquisitions executive at Cairo-based MAD Solutions, as its chief manager and producer. The change in name to 75East of the company, which launched last December with backing from Front Row Productions – a joint venture between leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment – is a geographical reference to the wider Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region from Morocco to Pakistan, “reflecting the company’s commitment to representing talent beyond Arabic-speaking territories,” according to a statement.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth lead the red carpet at the screening of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France on May 15, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Vue founder and CEO Tim Richards caused a stir last month with an intriguing appearance in front of the UK Parliament’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry. 

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producers Frida Torresblanco (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Frank Murray (First Reformed) have teamed up to launch Hangtime International Pictures, a new transatlantic production company headquartered in London and New York.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based production, finance and international sales outfit Film Constellation has unveiled a first exclusive clip from Titus Kaphar’s well-received drama “Exhibiting Forgiveness.” Film Constellation will screen the film for buyers in Cannes on Tuesday. The film received glowing reviews after its January premiere at Sundance in the U.S.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With his “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel movie “Furiosa” gearing up for both its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and its theatrical release later this month, director George Miller recently spoke to The Telegraph and reflected on the notorious feud that broke out between stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron during the grueling “Fury Road” production. Miller said at the center of the feud was the simple fact that “they were just two very different performers.” “Tom has a damage to him but also a brilliance that comes with it, and whatever was going on with him at the time, he had to be coaxed out of his trailer,” Miller said, more or less confirming reports that Hardy’s tardiness drew a wedge between him and his-costar.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said he is "expecting a lot" from Sofyan Amrabat after handing him a rare start against Arsenal at Old Trafford this afternoon.

Sophie Turner has lined up her next big project, and it has her joining forces with Archie Madekwe and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd.

Sam Claflin and Rupert Friend will star in Thunder Road Pictures’ World War II action-thriller Perdition. Written and directed by Henry Dunham, principal photography is set for the fall.

Former WME Independent agent Nelson Mok is launching a new investment and sales company named Mokster Films, which will focus on projects from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

EXCLUSIVE: Newly launched Dubai-based sales company MAD World has acquired worldwide rights to Egyptian director Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, a tense African migrant drama shooting later this year in Egypt.

Top Middle East and North African independent distributor and talent agency MAD Solutions is adding a new string to its bow with the launch of Arab cinema-focused international sales company MAD World.

K.J. Yossman Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has unveiled its Cannes slate, including George Michael documentary “Portrait of an Artist.” The company is also repping global sales rights for Lucy Lawless’ directorial debut “Never Look Away,” a documentary about photojournalist Margaret Moth, and “Forked,” a documentary about celebrity chef Susan Feniger. “George Michael: Portrait of an Artist” features copious archive footage as well as interviews with Michael’s close friends and colleagues including Stephen Fry and Stevie Wonder.

Boots shoppers are raving about a £10 teeth whitening product that improves smiles and boosts confidence. The budget-friendly whitening strips has been formulated to brighten teeth without the use of nasties, perfect for those with sensitive teeth and gums.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has signed with Neopol Film to handle international sales for their upcoming creature horror thriller, “Paws.” Featuring polar bear creature animatronics from the renowned studio behind “Star Wars” and “Jurassic World,” the film tells the story of a climate researcher stranded in the Arctic who must forge an unlikely alliance with a polar bear in order to survive. The project will feature a stellar international cast, yet to be announced.