MAD Solutions joins the cast of Ameer Fakher Eldin’s “Yunan,” while Georges Khabbaz and Sibel Kekilli join the cast

EXCLUSIVE: The Arab world’s leading distributor, MAD Solutions, has acquired the Pan-Arab rights to the upcoming picture by Ameer Fakher Eldin Yunnan about a disaffected writer in exile who travels to a remote island in the North Sea.

Yunnan is the second feature film by Fakher Eldin, who was born in Kiev to Syrian parents and now lives in Germany, following his critically acclaimed debut in the Golan Heights. The unknown (Al Gharib), which started in Venice in 2021 and represented Palestine at the Oscars.

The best Lebanese theater and film actor Georges Khabbaz (Perfect aliens, Under the bombs) plays the lead writer, who travels from his Hamburg exile to a remote island in the North Sea with suicidal thoughts. There he meets an elderly woman whose quiet humanity drives him to reawaken his desires for life.

German actress Sibel Kekilli, Best known for her role as Shae in game of thronesrecently joined the cast, more casting announcements to come.

Yunnan is the second part of a trilogy called a house that’s how it started The unknown. Fakher Eldin says it continues the themes of alienation he explored in the first film.

“Yunnan is a story of redemption and rebirth. It’s about the distances that inexorably create when we go into exile, between the unforgettable past and the present, between the present and an unattainable future,” he said.

“It’s about loneliness and depression, and specifically the kind of depression that people suffer from, choosing feelings they can’t deal with and being stuck in the depths of their despair.”

The film is produced by Red Balloon Film (Germany), Les Films Du Veyrier (France), Intramovies (Italy) and Fresco Films (Palestine).

Yunnan MAD Solutions reunites with producer Dorothe Beinemeier, CEO of Hamburg-based Red Balloon Film, following their continued collaboration on Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s upcoming film A house in Jerusalem.

“The feeling of insurmountable strangeness and the longing for a soothing but hard-to-reach home are at the core of the young Syrian director’s film story,” she explains.

“Ameer’s Feature Film Debut The unknown focused on alienation within one’s community and family throughout the new scenario Yunnan is about the strangeness of an exile in Germany. Ameer strikes a deep nerve with his timeless, poetic script and imagery and is already showing maturity in his storytelling style,” said Beinemeier.

She and Facher Eldin will present the project at the upcoming Red Sea Souk Project Market at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, the second edition of which is underway 1 to 10 Dec

The unknown Premiered in Venice in 2021 and received the Edipo Re Award. He enjoyed a vibrant career at the international film festivals and won the Best Arab Film Award at the Cairo International Film Festival.

“We jumped at the opportunity to work with an extremely talented Arab filmmaker, a delightful cast of Arab and international actors and actresses – some of whom are yet to be announced – a passionate producer who loves every project she works on , and a beautiful script that takes us on a moving journey that will resonate everywhere,” said Alaa Karkout, co-founder of MAD Solutions.I and Maher Diab.

Founded in 2010, Mad Solutions is one of the world’s leading distributors of Arabic language films and also operates one of the largest advertising agencies and management companies for Arab creative talent.

As of early 2021, it has distributed more than 100 film titles, two-thirds of which are feature films, in Arabic-speaking countries and international markets.