Film Clinic, Lagoonie Film Production and Mad Solutions to Co-Produce Huda's Salon

H & A Production, producer ofHuda's Salonby Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, has announced that Film Clinic, Lagoonie Film Production and MAD Solutions will co-produce the film. The film shooting is scheduled to commence during March in Palestine and will be distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production, while Memento Films will handle the international distribution rights.

Based on real events, Huda's Salon is a heart-racing, entertaining feminist thriller, where two women fight for their freedom. Nadia, a young mother married to a jealous man, goes to Huda's salonin Bethlehem, for a haircut and an attentive ear. But this ordinary visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Nadia in a shameful situation, blackmails her to have her work for the secret service of the occupiers, and thus betray her people.

"Seldom do I find a story inspired by real events that also contains contradictions that is organically entertaining, a ticking bomb, ensuring tension, and where you find yourself emotionally involved, clearly rooting for the protagonist," says Abu-Assad. "From an artistic point of view, Huda's Salon is the ultimate interface space of two contradictory forces, betrayal and loyalty, that synthesize into an intriguing vision."

Producer and screenwriter Mohamed Hefzy says, "We are so pleased to coproduce a film with such significance that brings together key players from the Arab film industry and is helmed by Hany Abu-Assad whose films were selected at the world's most prestigious film festivals."

While Shahinaz Elakkad, CEO of Lagoonie Film Production, comments, "Coproducing an international film such as Huda's Salon is an importantstep for us. We expect that the film will reach great heights, which will be a strong start in our international projects."

Film analyst Alaa Karkouti, CEO of MAD Solutions and Co-founder of the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), says, "Hany Abu-Assad is a renowned name in the film industry, regionally and internationally. He's always been on our radar. We look forward to working on this ambitious project and distributing it to wide audiences."

Starring Manal Awad, Ali Suliman and Maisa Abd Elhadi, Huda's Salon is produced by H & A Production (Hany Abu-Assad and Amira Diab) with Film Clinic (Mohamed Hefzy), MAD Solutions (Maher Diab, Alaa Karkouti) and Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz Elakkad). Daniel Ziskind is an associate producer for Film Clinic. Key Films is also a co-producer.

Palestinian screenwriter and director Hany Abu-Assad is one of the most eminent Arab directors of our time. His directing credits include some exceptional Arab films that gained international recognition, such as Paradise Now (2005),which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and Omar (2013) that also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2017, Abu-Assad directed The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, which opened the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). Huda's Salon is his latest feature film.