Canadian sales outfit Double Dutch international (DDI) to screen controversial picture at Cannes market.
Toronto-based sales company Double Dutch International has picked up world distribution rights to Ibrahim El Batout’s Winter of Discontent, set and filmed against the backdrop of the early days of the Egyptian revolution.
“Winter of Discontent is a very raw and powerful look into the events that shaped the Tahrir Square uprising,” said Jason Moring, president of DDI the foreign sales arm of integrated entertainment company Double Dutch Media.
The film stars Egyptian star Amr Waked, best known internationally for his performances in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Syriana, as a political activist.
“I’m a big fan of Amr and his performance is truly captivating in this film” said Moring.
The feature is set against the backdrop of the protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in January 2011. It intertwines the stories of an activist, a journalist and a state security officer.
Director and former war correspondent Ibrahim El Batout drew on his experience in conflict zones to shoot the film amid the mayhem of the protests, challenging censorship and side-stepped shooting permissions.
“You can really see why so many people consider El Batout such a gifted talent,” said Moring.
“Audiences will get to witness first-hand the heady, often surreal atmosphere of terror and uncertainty that characterized the last days of Mubarak’s rule. In fact my first day of shooting on the movie was actually in the chaotic mayhem of Tahrir Square, on the day before Mubarak stepped down from power” said Waked, who also produced the film through his Cairo-based company Zad Communication & Production.
The deal was negotiated by Paris-based Daniel Ziskind, who is a representative of Zad Communication, Amr Waked and Moring.
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