MAD Solutions Takes World Presales on Laila Abbas’ Female Empowerment Drama ‘Thank You for Banking With Us!’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Pan-Arab distributor MAD Solutions has acquired worldwide sales and distribution rights for Palestinian director Laila Abbas’ upcoming female empowerment drama “Thank You for Banking With Us!” and boarded the buzzed-about project as a co-producer.

The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.

Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer and academic who in 2013 made a splash with doc “Ice & Dust” about a young Palestinian woman who crosses the Atlantic ocean to search for a better life in Canada.

In 2019, she was selected for Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents program to nurture emerging filmmakers. “Thank You for Banking With Us!,” which is now in pre-production, tackles the hot button issue of sexist Middle Eastern inheritance rules dictated by Islamic Sharia law, under which a man has a right to take double the share of a woman.