EXCLUSIVE: Director Haifaa Al Mansour is returning to her native Saudi Arabia for the shoot of crime function Unidentified, exploring the fact of ladies amid the present interval of immense social change within the nation.
“I’m so excited to return dwelling to Saudi Arabia for my third movie exploring the hidden lives of Saudi ladies, and to make use of the prison thriller style to discover a gripping story rooted within the deeper points that have an effect on ladies within the Kingdom,” stated Al Mansour.
The film is in pre-production and resulting from start capturing quickly. UTA Unbiased Movie Group and Memento Worldwide are teaming as much as co-sell and can launch the undertaking in Cannes.
The drama is sparked by the invention of the lifeless physique of a teenage woman within the desert outdoors a small city. When nobody claims the physique, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who not too long ago misplaced a toddler of her personal, will get obsessively concerned.
Regardless of a ticking clock that seemingly ensures the ladies’ mindless loss of life will likely be discarded as a chilly case, Noelle is decided to establish the physique and uncover the reality. She slowly unravels a thriller entangled inside a conventional society in transition, the place ladies are studying to create extra space for themselves and to take management of their very own destinies.
“There are big adjustments happening contained in the Kingdom, significantly on the subject of ladies and their working environments, so I’m excited to deliver audiences on a journey of discovery as we observe down the clues that can reveal the reason for a younger girl’s mindless loss of life. I can’t wait to share this movie with the world,” stated Al Mansour.
The director made historical past in 2012 along with her debut movie Wadjda, which was the primary function to be shot completely in Saudi Arabia and the primary function made by a feminine Saudi director. Wadjda world premiered in Venice‘s Horizons sidebar and went on to characterize Saudi Arabia on the Oscars.
The movie’s high-profile pageant run and world field workplace success, put Al Mansour on the worldwide cinema map, and he or she went on to direct English-speaking movies Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning, adopted by Nappily Ever After for Netflix.
Al Mansour returned to work in Saudi Arabia shortly after the lifting of the nation’s 35-year cinema ban on the finish of 2017, to make The Good Candidate, which premiered in Competitors in Venice in 2019 and was additionally an Oscar entry for Saudi Arabia.
The script for Unidentified is written by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann, who additionally co-wrote The Good Candidate. The pair additionally produce the brand new movie with Rotana Studios within the Center East.
“We’re tremendous excited to work with such a proficient director,” stated Memento Worldwide.
“The script of Unidentified is an actual page-turner, a suspenseful crime investigation stuffed with surprises, tackling societal matters with an entertaining strategy that can please audiences worldwide. This new movie will likely be one other milestone so as to add to Haifaa Al Mansour’s spectacular profession.”
Al Mansour is repped by UTA, Nameless Content material, and Paul Hastings.
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