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Streaming Platform Iflix Expands Into Middle East, Africa
Asia-based video streaming service, Iflix is to launch in eight territories in the Middle East and North Africa. The company recently established a joint venture ‘Iflix Arabia’ with Middle East and...
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Ambitious Middle East Fest to Launch in Red Sea Resort With Backing From...
ROME – The Middle East festival landscape is set to be shaken up by an ambitious new entry, the El Gouna Film Festival, which is hoping to exploit its combination of financial muscle, expertise and a...
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iflix Looks to Take On Netflix in Emerging Markets
After launching in Asia in 2015, streaming service iflix is positioning itself as a low-cost alternative to Netflix in emerging markets. With a subscriber base of just under 5 million and a $90-million...
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Al Jazeera Thrust Into Center of Deepening Arab Diplomatic Storm
ROME – As tensions mount between Qatar and the Arab world’s top powers, pan-Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, by far the most-watched news outlet in the region, is increasingly being thrust into the...
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Netflix Picks Comedy Special as Its First Middle East Original
ROME – Netflix has announced that its first local production in the Middle East is a comedy special with Lebanese comedian and actor Adel Karam, who starred most recently in Ziad Doueiri’s courtroom...
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Vice Arabia Launches in Middle East With Original Documentary ‘Bil Arabi’...
ROME – Vice Media launched into the Middle East on Monday with its new Vice Arabia platform and its first local original production, an hour-long documentary about Arab millennials titled “Bil Arabi”...
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Iflix Makes Splash in Middle East With First Arabic Original ‘Tough Luck’
Six months after launching into the Middle East expanding streaming service iflix is making a splash with its first Arabic online original, a Cairo-set comedy of errors titled “Tough Luck” packed with...
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Dubai Film Connection Projects Seek to Provide Fresh Takes on Middle East...
Prominent Syrian auteur Mohamed Malas (“Ladder To Damascus”) is among the thirteen Arab film directors that have made the cut to tap into the funding and networking opportunities provided by the Dubai...
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Five Key Questions About Saudi Arabia’s Decision to Reintroduce Movie Theaters
Saudi Arabia’s removal of its 35-year-old ban on cinemas is prompting theater chains including AMC, Vue International, and Dubai-based VOX Cinemas to announce moves to enter the last untapped movie...
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Dubai: Festival President Abdulhamid Juma on Growing The Market and Opening...
Abdulhamid Juma was part of the initial team that founded the Dubai Intl. Film Festival (DIFF) in 2004, and has been its chairman since 2006. An influential figure in Arab cinema circles, Juma has...
View ArticleKuwaiti Company Is Latest Entrant in Saudi Arabia Theater-Building Derby
Saudi Arabia’s removal of its 35-year-old ban on cinemas is prompting another exhibitor to move in to the last untapped movie market in the Middle East, this time from neighboring Kuwait. Days after...
View ArticleNetflix Partners With Dubai-Based Pay-TV OSN in Middle East and North Africa
Netflix has signed an agreement with Dubai-based pay-TV OSN under which OSN subscribers will be able to access Netflix content across the Middle East and North Africa. The unusual deal marks the U.S....
View ArticleTop Middle East Satcaster Pulls Turkish Shows, Allegedly for Political Reasons
ROME – A decision by top Middle Eastern free-to-air satellite network MBC Group to stop broadcasting Turkish TV dramas, allegedly for political reasons, is sparking alarm within Turkey’s TV industry...
View ArticleDoha Film Institute’s Qumra Event Wraps Positively, Unfazed by Qatar Blockade
The Doha Film Institute’s innovative Qumra workshop wrapped its fourth edition Thursday on an upbeat note, reiterating its support for new voices in Arab cinema and its determination to overcome...
View ArticleHollywood Walk of Fame Licensed for Middle Eastern Version (EXCLUSIVE)
Hollywood’s iconic Walk of Fame is set for its latest foreign iteration: the Arabian Walk of Fame. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Beirut-based company Milestones have signed an agreement to...
View ArticleMiddle Eastern Exhibitor Cinemacity to Enter Saudi Arabia Theater-Building...
Middle Eastern exhibition chain Cinemacity, which operates in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, has become the latest entrant in Saudi Arabia’s movie-theater building derby, with plans...
View Article‘Black Panther’ to Break Saudi Arabia’s 35-Year Cinema Ban
“Black Panther” is set to break Saudi Arabia’s 35-year cinema ban. Disney and its Middle East distribution partner, Italia Film, will be releasing the Marvel superhero blockbuster April 18 in a new...
View ArticleMiddle East Moves Cautiously to Build Its Own Entertainment Business
A decade ago, Hollywood received an injection of Middle East oil money when the United Arab Emirates and Qatar decided to build an entertainment industry as part of their economic diversification. But...
View ArticleFinal Cut in Venice Workshop Prizewinners Announced
Experimental film “Mother, I am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You,” directed by Lemongah Jeremiah Mosese, who is from the tiny South African kingdom of Lesotho, has emerged as the standout...
View ArticleMBC Group Hires Ex-Hulu Exec Johannes Larcher to Boost Streaming (EXCLUSIVE)
Leading Middle Eastern free-to-air satellite network MBC Group is ramping up its streaming platforms, Shahid and Shahid Plus, with the appointment of former Hulu executive Johannes Larcher to head its...
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