(MENAFN- Arab Times) LOS ANGELES April 23 (RTRS): The Cannes Film Market will have its first Arab Cinema Center this year after this new platform to promote the growing Arab film internationally made its debut at Berlin's EFM in February. The first Arab film industry umbrella group at Cannes organized by Cairo and Abu Dhabi-based MAD Solutions an innovative marketing and distribution company will comprise seventeen film outfits and orgs from eight Arab and European countries.
They are: Film Clinic (Egypt) The Imaginarium Films (Jordan) The Producers (Egypt the UAE) Crystal Dog (Egypt) The International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva (Switzerland) The Friends (Egypt) Seat 26 (Lebanon) True Motion (Egypt) Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation (Germany) Cinema Akil (UAE) Silk Road Film Festival (Ireland) Luxor's African Film Festival's Etisal Fund (Egypt) Ministry of Interior's Cinema Awards (the UAE) Salam PROD (Egypt) Iraqi Independent Film Center (Iraq) Free TV (Egypt) and MAD Solutions (Egypt the UAE). Regular MAD Solutions CEO Alaa Karkouti is calling the ACC the first-of-its-kind Arab umbrella group to be present at international film festivals and is aiming to make it a regular fest circuit fixture. It could turn out to be a significant bridgehead between the Arab and European film industries at a time when several factors including the Charlie Hebdo massacre are bringing these industries closer together. 'The shape-shifting globalized nature of Arab filmmaking today is why our Arab Cinema Center makes so much sense: we serve as a focal point amid all the Cannes festival and market madness for reaching out to those at the fluid forefront of a New Arab Wave' said Colin Brown Managing Partner and Director of International Operations of MAD Solutions. 'The fact that Egypt Jordan Lebanon the UAE and Iraq can come under the same umbrella as Switzerland Ireland and German speaks volumes about the international cross-fertilization that is now occurring' he added. Organised by Cairo and UAE-based MAD Solutions the ACC aims to support Arab filmmakers and the film industry in the Middle East. Companies attending Cannes under the ACC umbrella include Egyptian production houses Film Clinic The Producers Crystal Dog The Friends True Motion and Salam PROD Jordanis The Imaginarium Films Lebanonis Seat 26 and the UAEis Cinema Akil. The ACC delegation also includes the International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva (Switzerland) the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation (Germany) the Silk Road Film Festival (Ireland) the Luxor African Film Festivalis Etisal Fund (Egypt) the UAE Ministry of Interioris Cinema Awards (UAE) the Iraqi Independent Film Center (Iraq) Free TV (Egypt) and MAD Solutions (Egypt UAE). Successful 'Launching at Berlin was a successful foundational step which encouraged us to launch the second edition at Cannes which has the worldis largest film market' said MAD Solutions CEO Alaa Karkouti. 'We are planning to be present at other festivals for the sake of providing diverse and broad opportunities to Arab cinema all over the world.' Colin Brown MAD's director of international operations said: 'The shape-shifting globalised nature of Arab filmmaking today is why our Arab Cinema Center makes so much sense: we serve as a focal point amid all the Cannes festival and market madness for reaching out to those at the fluid forefront of a New Arab Wave.' ACC activities will range from market screenings for Arabic-language films networking events and meetings with international film companies and organisations. ACC will also publish a guide on its participants in the market.
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