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4Dplex Experiences Added In Cambodia, Thailand

Korean tech firm Cj 4Dplex has struck a deal with Thailand’s Major Cineplex to add two ScreenX locations in Cambodia and Thailand. One will be located at the Aeon Mall Mean Chey, have almost 500 seats and have a 75-foot-wide central screen, making it the largest ScreenX auditorium in Southeast Asia. The other will be at Bangkok’s ICONSiam Mall location, debuting on July 27.

ScreenX is a multi-projection system with an immersive 270-degree field of view. That creates a virtual reality-like setting with cinema quality resolution. Major’s first ScreenX launched in 2022 at its Siam Paragon location in central Bangkok.

“We’ve received amazing reactions and feedback from our moviegoers for ScreenX in Thailand and expect to generate the same response at our Cambodia location,” said Vicha Poolvaraluk, CEO, Major Cineplex.

The two companies previously partnered on 4Dx installations, where viewers experience motion, vibration,...

Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.

“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.

Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.

While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.

The second edition of the industry platform also includes a Work-In-Progress showcase.

Projects from US filmmaker Lotfy Nathan and Italian-Iraqi director Haider Rashid are among the 23 titles selected for the project market of the Red Sea Souk, the industry platform of the Red Sea International Film Festival.

The project market is split into two sections: 12 projects in the market alone, with a further 11 market projects that have been developed in the Red Sea Lodge throughout the year, in workshops in partnership with the TorinoFilmLab.

Scroll down for the full list of projects

All market projects will compete for three cash prizes,...

The second edition of the industry platform also includes a Work-In-Progress showcase.

Projects from US filmmaker Lofty Nathan and Italian-Iraqi director Haider Rashid are among the 23 titles selected for the project market of the Red Sea Souk, the industry platform of the Red Sea International Film Festival.

The project market is split into two sections: 12 projects in the market alone, with a further 11 market projects that have been developed in the Red Sea Lodge throughout the year, in workshops in partnership with the TorinoFilmLab.

Scroll down for the full list of projects

All market projects will compete for three cash prizes,...

Lauded British screenwriter Tony Jordan and BAFTA nominee Colin Teague have combined on The Devil’s Promise, the latest big-budget TV series to come from Saudi Arabia’s Mbc Studios.

The pair have written and directed respectively and Hitch star Paula Patton is starring as the nation continues to ramp up its TV offering.

Airing on streamer Shahid VIP later this month, the show follows Ibrahim, who secures a gigantic project to redevelop a Cairo slum on the day is his wife is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor. Refusing to accept the prognosis, Ibrahim tries everything in his power to save her, including promising his soul to Iblis, Aka the devil, after his death.

The show stars Patton along with Amr Youssef, Aïcha Ben Ahmed, Fathy Abdel Wahab, Yaqoub Alfarhan, Ahmed Magdy, Ahmed Al Refaei, Mohamed Yousry, Mohamed Marzban, Khaled Kamal, Moataz Hisham, Mourad Makram, Amr Gamal, Nelly Karim, and the late Maha Abou Ouf.

In the upcoming drama “The Burdened” (“Al Murhaqoon”), about a family of five faced with a difficult decision, director Amr Gamal readies to tackle the subject that continues to ruffle feathers, and not just in his native Yemen: abortion.

The film, set to be finished in August and based on a true story, was recently named the winner of the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s industry section Eastern Promises. It’s produced by Adenium Productions, based in Yemen, and co-produced by Station Films of Sudan.

“This story touched my heart, because it happened to a very close friend of mine,” Gamal tells Variety.

“He plays a big part in the movie, but he doesn’t want to reveal himself. He and his wife, who is also a friend, are just too afraid. They don’t want others to know about what has happened.

Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s industry section Eastern Promises wrapped Tuesday, with Yemeni abortion drama “The Burdened” winning the top prize in the Works in Progress section. This followed a presentation of the projects on Monday, where a diverse lineup was on show.

Ten projects, in late stages of production or post-production, vied for the post-production service package and two cash awards of €5,000, given out by jurors Dennis Ruh, director of European Film Market, Beta Cinema’s Cosima Finkbeiner, Trt Cinema’s Esra Demirkiran, sound designer Michaela Patríková, and Ewa Puszczyńska, one of the producers of Oscar winner “Ida,” and also behind Karlovy Vary festival title “Fools.”

“I want to welcome you all after talking to you online for two years. Which was fun for us, but I am not sure how fun it was for you,” noted industry head Hugo Rosák, kickstarting the presentations, which included the likes of Poland’s “Elephant,...

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled the winners of the five project showcases taking place within its auspices from July 3-5.

This year’s edition presented 35 feature film projects across five selections, spanning Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Odesa International Film Festival Works in Progress presentations.

In the Works in Progress sidebar, the post-production development prize went to Yemeni director Amr Gamal’s The Burdened; the 5,100 Trt prize was awarded to Bulgarian filmmaker Paval G. Vesnakov’s Windless, and the Karlovy Vary Iff prize was clinched by Turkish director Kaveh Daneshmand’s Endless Summer Syndrome.

For the Works in Development – Feature Launch, the main Kviff & Midpoint development award went to Swedish director Sophia Vuković’s My Best Friend’s Baby.

In the same section, the Connecting Cottbus Award was won by Polish filmmaker Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska’s Dolphin,...

Yemeni film “The Burdened,” directed by Amr Gamal, won the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award in Eastern Promises, the industry section of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival on Tuesday.

The story, written by Gamal and Mazen Refaat, centers on Ahmed, Isra’a and their three children in Aden, Yemen in 2019. Both parents lose their jobs and suffer from the economic crisis. The movie starts with Isra’a finding out about her pregnancy at a time when they cannot cover the expenses of a new child, leading them to make difficult decisions in order to survive.

The jury said it was “impressed by the director’s brave approach to tackling this sensitive subject against all odds.”

The Yemen-Sudan coproduction is produced by Mohsen Alkhalifi, Gamal, Amjad Abu Alala and Mohammed Alomda.

The Works in Progress Karlovy Vary Iff Award went to “Endless Summer Syndrome,” directed by Kaveh Daneshmand, an...

Graham Foy’s Canada-us title ‘The Maiden’ takes First Cut+ prize.

Kaveh Daneshmand’s Turkey-France co-production Endless Summer Syndrome is among the winners from Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry section, which held its awards this evening (July 5).

The film received the Karlovy Vary Iff Works in Progress award. It is currently in post-production ahead of a planned January 2023 launch, and will be the feature debut for Iranian filmmaker Daneshmand, who is based in the Czech Republic.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Endless Summer Syndrome is a drama about a woman who receives an anonymous phone call,...

Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s industry section, Eastern Promises, has unveiled its lineup of 35 film projects, which will be showcased during the Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Odesa International Film Festival Works in Progress presentations. The most promising projects will receive awards totaling Euros 125,000.

The showcasing of projects to industry professionals will take place in Karlovy Vary during Kviff Industry Days. On July 4, are Works in Progress and Works in Development – Feature Launch; on July 5, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Oiff WiP Selection.

For Works in Progress, 10 fiction and documentary feature films in the late stage of production or post-production from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and North Africa have been selected. The prize will be decided by jury members Dennis Ruh (European Film Market), Óscar Alonzo (Latido Films...