EXCLUSIVE: Film Movement have acquired North American rights for Oscar-nominated Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s timely movie Happy Holidays, which has been enjoying a prize-winning run on the festival circuit following its Venice debut last year.
The portrait of a contemporary Palestinian family and the complexities of its life in Israel premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti sidebar last September, clinching its Best Screenplay award.
Since then, it has played at a dozen festivals, clinching top awards at the Thessaloniki and Marrakech film festivals among others along the way.
The acquisition announcement was made by Film Movement President Michael Rosenberg and Nicolas Eschbach, CEO of French company Indie Sales.
“Though he’s just at the beginning of his filmmaking career, Scandar has shown an ability to create characters that portray Israeli and Palestinian life in an authentic and unforgettable manner,” says Rosenberg.
“At a time when all eyes are on the region, Happy Holidays opens a window into a world audiences that rarely have the opportunity to see.”
Film Movement is planning a theatrical release n 2025, followed by a launch on leading digital platforms and in the home entertainment marketplace.
Contemporary Haifa-set drama Happy Holidays is sparked by minor car accident that sets off a chain of events, unravelling lies and unspoken truths that sow division within a multifaceted patriarchal society.
While attending university in Jerusalem, Fifi, a young Palestinian woman is hospitalized following a car accident. Though her injuries are minor, she fears her newfound freedom at school will now come under the scrutiny of her conservative parents.
Back in Haifa, Fifi’s older brother Rami panics as he faces his own personal crisis – Shirley, his Jewish girlfriend, reveals she is pregnant and plans to carry the baby to term. Behind closed doors, the family’s deep financial troubles come into focus while Hanan, Fifi and Rami’s mother, plans her eldest daughter’s wedding.
Happy Holidays is Copti’s second film after his debut Ajami exploring the complexities of life in a multicultural society.
The first mainly Arabic-language film to be submitted by Israel for the Best International Feature Film in 2009, it was nominated but lost out to Argentina’s The Secret in Their Eyes.
Copti’s new film has struck a chord with film festival audiences and juries in recent months. It won Marrakech’s Golden Star in December, having won a Golden Alexander for Best Film at the Thessaloniki, a Special Mention in Palm Springs and a Gold Hugo nomination for New Directors at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Other recent Film Movement acquisitions include the recent 4K restored version of Jim McKay’s 1996 landmark Girls Town; Leonardo Van Dijl’s tennis drama Julie Keeps Quiet, which debuted in Cannes Critic’s Week and was Belgium’s Oscar entry, and An Unfinished Film, directed by Lou Ye, which recently won the top prizes at the Golden Horse Film Festival
