Iraqi director of HAIFA STREET to hold film’s first screening in Iraq
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – HAIFA STREET will hold its first national screening in Iraq, its homeland on October 27th at The French Institute of Iraq in Baghdad. Directed by Iraq’s Mohanad Hayal, who co-wrote it with Hala Al Salman, HAIFA STREET stars Ali Thamer, Asad Abdulmajeed, Yumna Marwan, and Iman Abdulhassan, and produced by Sumerian Dream Productions. Wide Management manages the film’s worldwide distribution, while MAD Solutions manages the film’s marketing and distribution across the Arab world.
The film has garnered several international awards including The Golden Olive branch award for best feature film at the fifth edition of the Jerusalem International Film Festival, the Best Film award at the Busan International Film Festival, the Laser Film award, and the HAKKA Distribution award at the Takmil Workshop of the Carthage Film Festival (JCC), Lab Award from the Asia Pacific Academy, Market Award at the Tribeca International Film Festival, and the Cinescape Award, presented by Front Row at the Dubai International Film Festival. Moreover, the film won a post-production grant from the Doha Film Institute.
HAIFA STREET had its Arab world premiere at the Carthage Film Festival (JCC), where it received a wide audience and critical acclaim, and landed its world European premiere at Göteborg Film Festival in Sweden.
The film was also featured at the Darb 1718 Art and Culture Center and The Arab World Festival of Montreal as well as the first Amman International Film Festival.
– About the Iraqi filmmaker –
Mohanad Hayal was born in southern Iraq in the city of Nasiriyah in 1985. He graduated from the Cinema Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 2010. Hayal participated in many advanced cinema workshops in several European and Arab countries. His latest short film HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2013) was selected at Berlin International Film Festival and received the Rising Star Award at the 2014 Rhode International Film Festival in the US.
His debut feature HAIFA STREET won the Top Award in the Official Competition of the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, and the Best Arabic Film and Best Acting Performance awards in the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition at the Cairo International Film Festival. He also co-produced several films as well as organized many screenwriting and co-production workshops. The Iraqi filmmaker also wrote and produced several TV shows, including THE RED ZONE and DEEP STATE.
Hayal, along with a group of Iraqi critics, co-founded the Baghdad Scholarship for Independent Films, which is under the auspices of the Iraqi Minister of Culture.
HAIFA STREET is currently available for viewers who are subscribed to Netflix streaming.