NEWS

Film project Haysh Maysh: False Drama by Moroccan director Hicham Lasri won Ergo, Media Ventures’ and MAD Solutions joint award for distribution services at the CineGouna SpringBoard, one of the initiatives organized by the CineGouna Platform within the 5th El Gouna Film Festival (Oct14-22). The award grants the winning film project distribution services across the Arab world with a guarantee of $30,000 for the filmmakers where the two companies will be responsible for distributing the winning film project across the Arab world. The film has competed among a list of feature narrative film projects in post-production.

Haysh Maysh: False Drama follows Khadija, a young woman who lives in a working-class neighborhood in the heart of Casablanca. Being known for her constant uncontrollable anger episodes, Khadija strives to survive post-apocalyptic Casablanca between nightmares and hallucinations until the worst day of her life comes.

Hicham Lasri is a Moroccan director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed and wrote over a dozen films, including short and feature films. In 2011, his first feature film The End won numerous awards. His films: They are the Dogs, The Sea is Behind, and Starve Your Dog joined three consecutive editions of Dubai International Film Festival. Furthermore, they won several awards and accolades and were highly praised by critics. His film City Soul world premiered at Dubai International Film Festival and in 2018, he made his film Jahilya. As a scriptwriter and director, Hicham Lasri has gone on to make his cinematic mark. His works highlight Moroccan issues.

Ergo continues to support promising Arab film projects by presenting awards in cooperation with various film festivals. Since its establishment, it has supported four projects through the CineGouna SpringBoard at the four previous editions of El Gouna Film Festival and three projects at Cairo Film Connection. Some of these projects won prestigious awards, including Lebanese film 1982, by Oualid. Mouaness, which reaped awards at Toronto, El Gouna, and other festivals. This comes as part of Ergo’s endeavor to support Egypt’s position as the nexus of the regional film industry; the place where regional creatives strive for recognition.

Ergo, Media Ventures was established in January 2018 by Ayady for Investment and Development and is managed by NI Capital. It’s a dynamic investment firm committed to transforming the media landscape in Egypt and the Arab world. With a primary focus on digital and traditional content creation and distribution, Ergo, aims to re-establish the Egyptian media and entertainment industry as a sustainable economic, social and cultural driver.

MAD Solutions is always keen on presenting its award at international film festivals and markets. Along with its awards at the CineGouna SpringBoard, and Cairo Film Connection, MAD Solutions previously offered similar awards at the Final Cut in Venice of the Venice International Film Festival , Open Doors of Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland (Devoted to films from Maghreb countries), the MAFF Market Forum (MMF) of the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, the Palestine Cinema Days, and the Festival National du Film Professional Meetings in Tangier, Morocco.

CineGouna Platform is an industry-oriented event created to support and empower filmmakers and industry professionals, aiming to develop promising film projects from Egypt and the Arab world and help them find artistic and financial support. CineGouna Platform presents the CineGouna SpringBoard and the CineGouna Bridge, which are programs that provide opportunities for sharing and learning through workshops, panel discussions, and master classes led by industry experts.