MAD Solutions bags two awards at the Septimius Awards

Maintaining form, the MENA region’s leading film distributor MAD Solutions managed to seize two awards for two hits from its distribution slate — GOOD BYE JULIA and MOEZ THE END OF THE Tunnel — on Tuesday, September 26th at one of the world’s most prestigious award ceremonies, the Septimus Awards.

During the closing ceremony held in Amsterdam, Mohamed Kordofani’s highly decorated and acclaimed Sudanese drama GOODBYE JULIA won the Best African Film Award, while Mohamed Ali Nahdi’s impressive debut feature film MOEZ THE END OF THE TUNNEL received Best African Actor, which went to Akrem Sakkouhi.

The Septimius Awards is an international award ceremony showcasing Feature Films, Documentaries, Shorts, Animations, Television Series, and Screenplays. The award ceremony has a wide range of attendees, including Emmy, BAFTA, and Oscar winners such as Christopher Hampton and Kevin Willmott.

Most recently, GOODBYE JULIA, the laureate of the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize, was named Sudan’s official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Before that, GOODBYE JULIA had swept the board at France's Festival Paysages de Cinéastes, taking home the Audience Award, the Youth Jury Award, and the Women's Jury Award.

It was also featured in the Horizons Section of the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and enjoyed widespread popularity and packed screenings after its historic world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Freedom Prize.

GOODBYE JULIA follows the story of Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — who is wracked by guilt after covering up a murder. In an attempt to make amends, she takes the deceased’s Southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home.

Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.

Meanwhile, MOEZ THE END OF THE TUNNEL previously won the Best Director award at the Maghreb Film Festival OUJDA and screened at the 16th CINÉALMA in France, the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, and the Maghbreb Film Festival in the Netherlands. The film was commercially released in Tunisian cinemas and had special screenings in France, Venice, Hollywood, London, and Montreal.

Moez is a 25-year-old young man who lives with his mother and his little sister in a disreputable district of Tunis. Moez, who is delusional, is arrested and taken to the police station, where he meets Hassen — a radical Islamist coming from France who will turn his life upside down.

The film marks Mohamed Ali Nahdi’s debut feature, which he co-wrote with Slim Ben Ismail. The film stars Seif Mannai, Akrem Sakkouhi Mag, Lamine Nahdi, and Leila Chebbi and is produced by Zenith Production.