{"id":162234,"date":"2025-12-01T11:29:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162234\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T11:29:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:29:07","slug":"mad-distribution-takes-mena-for-behind-the-palm-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162234\/","title":{"rendered":"Mad Distribution Takes MENA For \u2018Behind The Palm Trees\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Mad Distribution<\/a> has taken MENA rights for Moroccan director Meryem Benm\u2019Barek\u2019s Behind The Palm Trees<\/a> which world premiered in Competition at the Marrakech<\/a> Film Festival over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe distribution arm of the Cairo-based pan-Arab film and talent company will oversee the release of the title across the MENA region and also showcase the title in its new theatrical showcase CineMAD, <\/a>which kicks off this December. <\/p>\n

\n\tMixing genre with social and historical commentary, the thriller pushes boundaries with its exploration of the consequences of colonialism as well as relationships in a conservative society. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Tangier-set drama stars Driss Ramdi (Escape From Raqqa) as a young Moroccan man torn between two woman: his longtime fianc\u00e9, played by Nadia Kounda (Raltat), and a wealthy French girl, played by Sara Giraudeau (The Bureau).<\/p>\n

\n\tDrawn by the French girl\u2019s glamorous lifestyle, he begins to neglect his long local girlfriend, knowing full well that his choices will catch up with him.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast also features renowned French actress Carole Bouquet and Olivier Rabourdin (Eastern Boys).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is a French-Moroccan-Belgian-Qatari coproduction between Paris-based Tessalit Productions and Orlean-based Furyo Films, in association with Mad Solutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt brings together an impressive group of talents in the Arab world and European indie space.<\/p>\n

\n\tBenm\u2019Barek co-wrote the screenplay with UK-Moroccan BAFTA and BIFA-nominated director Fyzal Boulifa<\/a> (The Damned Don\u2019t Cry) \u2014 in collaboration with Emma Benestan<\/a> (Facing The Beast) and Agn\u00e8s Feuvre (\u00c0 Mains Nues).<\/p>\n

\n\tJean Br\u00e9hat (West Beirut, The Insult) and Emma Binet produce, with cinematography by shot by Son Doan (Viet and Nam<\/a>), and editing by Christel Dewynter (Hippocrates: Diary of a French Doctor).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film also received the support of the Doha Film Institute, Atlas Workshops and the Red Sea Souk, where MAD Solutions awarded it with its coveted Distribution Prize, offering distribution, sales, and marketing services valued at $50,000.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\u201cBehind The Palm Trees shows us how love, passion, and the euphoria that comes with them are a universal language that transcends borders, cultures, and ethnicities,\u201d said Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt is an authentic and relatable Arab story with global appeal, and we couldn\u2019t be more excited for you to see it. And all that aside, we just couldn\u2019t resist working with a talented director like Benm\u2019Barek after the impressive journey her last film, Sofia, went on!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCommenting on her vision behind the film and why she picked Tangier as the setting for her story, Benm\u2019Barek said: \u201cThis film comes from my desire to tell an intimate thriller, where romantic tensions slowly turn into dangerous forces. Tangier, a city full of contrasts, provided the perfect setting for this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBenm\u2019Barek was born in Rabat, Morocco<\/a>, and grew up between Morocco, France, and Belgium. In 2010, she joined a directing program in Belgium\u2019s INSAS, where she directed several short films, including Jennah, which was selected for several international festivals and shortlisted for the 2015 Oscars.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer debut feature Sofia (2018) won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival\u2019s Un Certain Regard before garnering several international awards, including the New Voices\/New Visions Grand Jury Prize at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tParis-based Pyramide International handles international sales. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Mad Distribution has taken MENA rights for Moroccan director Meryem Benm\u2019Barek\u2019s Behind The Palm Trees which world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[97466,146,85,46,97467,97468,97469,79189,29334],"class_list":["post-162234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-behind-the-palm-trees","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mad-distribution","tag-mad-solutions","tag-marrakech","tag-marrakech-film-festival","tag-morocco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}