Producers and film professionals from the Arab region discussed their perception of a “quota system” at festivals as well as distribution challenges, during a panel held by the World Cinema Fund in conjunction with Berlinale Talents.
Alaa Karkouti, CEO of Arab film distribution outfit Mad Solutions, suggested that festivals had a “quota” for different regions outside of Europe, including the Arab region.
“While there’s improved space for Arab films at festivals like Cannes and Venice, I always feel like there’s a kind of quota,” said Karkouti. “Like here, media have asked me, ‘how do you feel with Yunan in the main competition?’ This question is asked with good intentions but you’ll never ask that of a European film.”
Comprised of five subsidiaries, Karkouti’s Cairo-headquartered Mad Solutions is involved with film sales, management and marketing for Arab films and runs operations in the UAE, Jordan and Lebanon, among others.
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Karkouti was referring to Berlin competition film Yunan, which Mad Solutions also reps for MENA region sales. The feature is written and directed by Ameer Fakher Eldin, and is a co-production between Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The discussion was part of the “World Cinema Fund (WCF) Day” event, which also served to highlight five WCF-supported films in the Berlinale 2025 program, including competition title The Message, Berlinale Special film Ancestral Visions of the Future, as well as The Settlement, Khartoum and Minimals in a Titanic World.
Sound designer Rana Eid, from Lebanon, who worked on Berlin competition title Hot Milk, also echoed similar sentiments on festival quotas in programming.
“Sometimes, I don’t want to be seen as a Lebanese sound designer, I don’t want to be labeled and I don’t want quotas,” said Eid. “Now that I’m working on the international level, I feel like my job is the same, whether I’m working with a Yemeni or Lebanese film, we have the same line of questioning and same approach to sound.”
However, with more than 20 years of experience behind her, Eid pointed out that there are unique challenges behind-the-scenes facing Arab film professionals.
“With Arab countries, we have a lot of psychological challenges because we come from countries that are not very well,” said Eid.
Karkouti highlighted Sudanese drama film Goodbye Julia as a good example of a film that has received immense critical and commercial success, but started off having a challenging distribution journey.
The debut feature from Mohamed Kordofani, Goodbye Julia was the first Sudanese title ever presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, in 2023.
However, Karkouti said that it was difficult work trying to convince cinemas to pick up the film, although the film ended up doing very well across the Gulf countries. Karkouti shared that the film just received distribution in China three months ago.
“Cinemas-wise, it’s always challenging and sometimes it’s about luck,” said Karkouti. “It worked well with Goodbye Julia, where we felt that it could have box office success and it ended up breaking records. It made great income for the Gulf countries and you would hope that the cinemas will change their mind in future since they have had success.
Karkouti added that he sees the theatrical business as a “100 percent” kind of endeavor, where cinemas have extremely limited appetite for risk in the Arab region and rely heavily on American content.
“We have success with pushing films, but it’s still not easy, and we end up pushing for smaller screenings or limited screenings,” added Karkouti. “There are still endless stories to present to the art world but it’s challenging for finance and for censorship, as it really depends on each country.”
Egyptian producer Kesmat El Sayed, who recently relocated to Berlin, also said that working in between the Arab and European industries presented a new set of challenges. She worked on The Settlement, a title in Berlin’s Perspectives program.
“I encourage people to think and reflect why they want to produce with Arab filmmakers,” said El Sayed. “If they don’t start thinking why, it is easy to end up in a transactional relationship.”
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