File: A scene from “The Alleys.
CAIRO - 25 September 2021: Written and directed by Bassel Ghandour, Jordanian film The Alleys competes for Sutherland Award, among other 7 films from around the world, at the 65th BFI London Film Festival (October 6 – 10).
The award aims to recognize the most original and imaginative directorial debut. In addition, Theeb, winner of BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut and the 2016 Oscar nominee, marks the last presence for Jordan at the festival since 2014.
The film is also written and produced by Bassel Ghandour, who participates in the festival this year with his directional feature debut.
The film is set to have two screenings; on Monday, October 11, at 8:40 PM
BFI Southbank (NFT3), and on Wednesday, October 13th, at 3:10 PM, BFI Southbank (NFT2).
The Alleys recently landed its world premiere at Locarno Festival’s iconic Piazza Grande, the biggest outdoor screen in Europe.
The Alleys marks the comeback of Arab Films in Piazza Grande, since 2008.
This year’s edition of BFI London Film Festival offers a rich programme of 159 films from around the world that will screen in venues across the UK, as well as a selected programme of feature and short films that will be accessible online on BFI Player.
This edition’s theme is diversity, where 40% of the works have been made by ethnically diverse filmmakers.
Previously, the film received the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award of the Eastern Promises program at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Further, it won two awards for films in post-production at the 7th Cairo Film Connection, the co-financing platform of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) and received support from The Jordan Film Fund of the Royal Film Commission, Doha Film Institute (Qatar), and the Red Sea Film Festival (KSA).
During development, the film was aided by EAVE Producers Workshop, Rawi Screenwriters lab, Dubai Film Connection, and The Sorfond Pitching Forum.
The Alleys is directed and written by Bassel Ghandour and stars Emad Azmi, Munther Rayahneh, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Baraka Rahmani, Nadira Omran, and Nadim Rimawi.
The film is produced by Bayt Al Shawareb (Yousef Abed Al-Nabi), The Imaginarium Films (Rula Nasser) and co-produced by Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El Akkad).
MAD Solutions handles the film’s sales and distribution across the Arab World, while Elle Driver (France) will handle international sales.
Film Synopsis:
In a gossip-ridden, violent neighborhood in East Amman, a young hustler will stop at nothing to be with his secret lover, but her merciless mother won’t have it. When an extortionist catches the couple in the act, the mother solicits a gangster to put a stop to it all... things don’t go as planned.
Director Bassel Ghandour co-wrote and produced Theeb, winner of the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Debut and the 2016 nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. The Alleys is his directorial debut, and he is also the film’s writer. The Alleys premiered at the Locarno Festival.
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