Prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is branching out into Saudi Arabia by setting up an outpost of his prolific Film Clinic shingle – which has six titles at Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival – in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
The milestone move comes after Hefzy has been busy forging rapports with Saudi’s film community on a number of projects including Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky’s high-end Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan” – which had its regional premiere at Red Sea last year after launching from Toronto. “Hajjan” was produced by Film Clinic in tandem with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra.
“This is something that’s been in the cards for a couple of years,” Hefzy told Variety. He added that though Film Clinic’s Saudi base will be in Riyadh, the idea is to be active throughout the entire kingdom. “We’re talking about Riyadh. We’re talking about Jeddah. We’re talking about AlUla. We’re talking about any place where we could shoot films in the kingdom and work with local filmmakers,” he said.
“Because for us, we don’t want to be the outsiders that come in importing talents, importing directors, writers, and actors. We want to be respectful of the culture,” Hefzy added. “We want to be respectful of the fact that there are a lot of upcoming [Saudi] talents that have stories to tell, and that they are much better placed to tell the stories than we are,” he went on to point out.
In a statement, Hefzy further underlined that Film Clinic aims to foster new relationships with the local film community “while enhancing our relationships with our Saudi partners, including MBC Group, Ithra, Muvi, Arabia Pictures, and others. We look forward to hearing from all Saudi writers, directors and creatives,” he said.
In tandem with its Saudi expansion, Film Clinic also announced its production slate for 2025, with seven films in various stages, several of which from Saudi, ranging from projects in development, production, and post.
Film Clinic’s latest Saudi production is “A Matter of Life and Death,” a romantic black comedy pairing Sarah Taibah (“Mandoob”) and Yaqoub Alfarhan (“Norah,” “Rashash”). The plot involves a superstitious young woman named Hayat who is convinced she’s cursed and wants to end her life. She intersects with Yousef, an introverted heart surgeon who suffers from slower than the average heartbeats. “Their fates collide in the most peculiar way: she’s wishing for an end, while he’s wrestling with even darker thoughts,” the synopsis says.
Shooting on “Life and Death” is set to start soon in Jeddah. The film germinated from Jeddah-based writer Sarah Taibah (“Jameel Jiddan”) and will see Saudi-based Yemeni filmmaker Anas Batahaf making her directorial debut.
Regional powerhouses Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Arabia Pictures Group and Rotana Studios have joined as co-producers with Film Clinic on “Life and Death.”
Other projects in various stages the Film Clinic pipeline include:
– “Hijra,” which is Saudi director Shahad’Ameen’s previously announced followup to her feminist fable “Scales.” “Hijra” is an ambitious drama centered on the bond formed between different generations of Saudi women during a journey across the desert. Film Clinic is producing in tandem with Mohamed Al-Daradji and production companies Biet Ameen Production, The Iraqi Independent Film Center, and HumanFilm UK with Ideation Studio’s Faisal Baltyuor also on board.
– “Berleen” which sees Hefzy reunite with Ahmed Abdalla (“Microphone,” “19 B”) in a Berlin-set tale of three Arab immigrants who face surreal situations as their lives intertwine in the German capital where “past and present collide,” says the provided synopsis. The film stars Menna Shalabi, Yosra El-Lozy and Mohamed Hatem, among other top Egyptian talents.
– “The 67th Summer,” the latest feature by Abu Bakr Shawky, who prior to “Hajjan” made a splash with his debut “Yomeddine,” which had the rare distinction of making the competition cut for Cannes. “The 67th Summer” is a period piece that revolves around a young man from Cairo named Ali and an Austrian girl named Liz. “67th Summer” stars Egyptian A-listers Amir El-Masry and Nelly Karim, and Austria’s Valerie Pachner (“A Hidden Life”).
– Sudanese director Suzannah Mirghani’s “Cotton Queen,” a German, French, Palestinian and Egyptian co-production set in a Sudanese cotton farming village.
– Egyptian director Mohamed Siam’s “My Father’s Scent,” the tale of a father and son who discover many secrets about each other while they both try to settle their scores during one long night. Starring Ahmed Malek, Kamel El Basha and Mayan El-Sayed. Currently in post.
– “El Set,” a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum, who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer, directed by prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed best known internationally for groundbreaking epic “The Yacoubian Building.”
Film Clinic’s six titles at Red Sea, including three in the official competition, are Khaled Mansour’s “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo,” Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown” and Taghreed Abu Al-Hassan’s “Snow White.” Additionally they have Jaylan Auf’s “The Inevitable Journey to Find a Wedding Dress” in the Festival Favorites section, Omar Bakry’s “Abdo and Saneya” and Abdulaziz Alshlahei’s Saudi film “Hobal” both world premiering in the fest’s Arab Spectacular section.
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