Watermelon Takes Mahdi Fleifel’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Hit ‘To a Land Unknown’ for North America (EXCLUSIVE)
Chicago-based Watermelon Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights to Danish-Palestinian writer-director Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown,” which world premiered to extensive acclaim at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Sold by Salaud Morisset, “To a Land Unknown” saw a P&I screening on Friday at Toronto where it has its North American premiere in Toronto’s Centrepiece showcase, packing an impressive double-punch for Salaud Morisset with a second Centrepiece title, “Under the Volcano,” which it also represents.
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Channeling “the Spirit of ‘Bicycle Thieves,’” Variety said in an upbeat review, “To a Land Unknown” turns on two cousins, Chatila and Reda, raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, who are now stranded in a downbeat neighbourhood of Athens, trying to scrape together – or scam – money for fake passports to get to Germany. When Reda blows their savings on his opiate addiction, Chatila puts together a plan for a dangerous heist.
In conceiving “To a Land Unknown” far from most recent dramas about immigration, Fleifel told Variety that he wanted to “pay homage” to his favourite cinema, the “early Martin Scorsese” and Brian De Palma 1970s New York films, so crafted a heist thriller set in Greece where the main protagonists aren’t necessarily the good guys.
Critics’ consensus has been that the film’s major achievement is te empathy it establishes for its leads. “It follows in the footsteps of the likes of Italian neorealist classic ‘Bicycle Thieves’ in prioritizing the humanity of its leads, but in a sense it goes harder, testing the viewer’s ability to stay on Chatila and Reda’s side through an escalation in stakes as the script gradually ramps up the seriousness of the crimes they commit in their efforts to secure the normal lives for themselves that most viewers take for granted,” Catherine Bray wrote in Variety’s review.
“The difficulty of hanging onto your humanity when you are not being treated humanely is a core concern, expressed here with appealing spirit and fire,” she added.
The North American distribution deal was negotiated by Fran?ois Morisset, managing director of Salaud Morisset, with Watermelon’s Co-Founder Hamza Ali, Acquisitions Head Munir Atalla and Executive VP, Justin DiPietro, who recently joined Watermelon’s parent company, MPI Media Group.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Watermelon for the North American release of ‘To a Land Unknown,’” said Fran?ois Morisset. “With their expertise in handling impactful films, we are confident they will guide the release with great care and precision.”
“Mahdi Fleifel’s film has captivated viewers and critics with his powerful storytelling and profound empathy. At Watermelon Pictures, we are committed to supporting films that resonate on a deep emotional level, and ‘To a Land Unknown’ is a perfect example of this commitment,” added Hamza Ali, co-founder of Watermelon Pictures.
“To a Land Unknown” is produced by Geoff Arbourne of the U.K.’s Inside Out Films and Fleifel’s Nakba FilmWorks, Morisset for France and Germany’s Salaud Morisset, Maria Drandaki for Greece’s Homemade Films, and Layla Meijman and Maarten van der Ven for the Netherlands’ Studio Ruba.
Watermelon Pictures, whose name pays homage to Palestine resistance, was founded by brothers Hamza Ali and Badie Ali with Alana Hadid leading the team as Creative Director. “Rooted in Palestinian culture and creativity, Watermelon Pictures produces, promotes, and cultivates visionary work that educate, entertain and inspire the world to stand up to injustice, celebrate independent voices, and imagine our way into a shared, liberated future,” its boilerplate description runs.
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