EXCLUSIVE: Mad Distribution has taken Arab theatrical rights for Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Hajab, which was announced as Tunisia’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category of the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday.
Paris-based The Party Film Sales is handling worldwide sales on the title, while CAA Media Finance represents North American rights.
The drama reconstructs the events surrounding the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, her four cousins, her aunt and uncle, and the two paramedics who came to her rescue, after their car came under fire as they tried to flee Gaza City in January, 2024.
The killings took place some three months into Israel’s ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 terror attacks, which killed 1,200 and resulted in 251 being taken.
With the death toll now standing at more than 61,000 people in Gaza, much of which has been razed to the ground, while families of the hostages in Israel agonize over the fate of their loved ones, The Voice of Hind Rajab is expected to be one of the more explosive films of the Venice’s 82nd edition.
The film is lead produced by Ben Hania’s long-time producer Nadim Cheikhrouha under his Mime Films and Tanit Films banners. Additional producers are Odessa Rae at New York-based RaeFilm Studios and James Wilson at London-based Jw Films Production.
Mad Distribution is an arm of Cairo-based creation of marketing and distribution company, which also oversees the Arab Cinema Centre stands at key markets and festivals.
The company is celebrating a festival hat-trick under which it has attended the A-list festivals of Berlin, Cannes and Venice with three key titles.
In addition to The Voice of Hind Rajab, Mad’s Venice slate also features Jihan K’s documentary My Father and Qaddafi, which world premieres Out of Competition in the Official Selection, as well as Suzannah Mirghani’s Cotton Queen, which debuts in the parallel International Critics’ Week section.
It is handling sales on My Father and Qaddafi while it has MENA rights for Mirghani’s coming of age drama set in rural Sudan.
Prior to Venice, Mad Solutions was in Cannes with Erige Sehiri’s Un Certain Regard opening film Promised Sky; Tarzan & Arab Nasser’s Once Upon A Time In Gaza, which won Best director in the sidebar, as well as Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, which debuted in Critics’ Week. The company holds MENA rights on all three films.
The Berlin trio spanned Ameer Fakhereldin’s Golden Bear contender Yunan, Mohamed Rashad’s workplace thriller The Settlement (Perspectives); and Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama’s Têtes Brûlées in Generation 14plus.
“There’s a clear demand for authentic stories that explore our side of the world – stories that move, provoke, inform, build, deconstruct, surprise and humanize,” commented the Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.
“With the pan-Arab cinema industry scaling ever new heights, creatively and commercially, it was only a matter of time before we hit this new milestone of three films at each of the three most prestigious competitive film festivals. Arab stories are clearly resonating at the highest levels of the entertainment industry and we are immensely proud as a company to be associated with so many of these eye-opening films and the extraordinary artists behind them.”
The post Mad Solutions Takes Arab Rights To Gaza Drama ‘The Voice Of Hind Rajab’ As Company Fetes A-List Fest Hat-Trick appeared first on Deadline.
