(Berlin, Germany) – February 13th, 2023. APL Film announces the acquisition of foreign sales rights to “Polarized”, the 5th theatrical feature of award-winning Canadian-British writer-director Shamim Sarif (Despite the Falling Snow). Produced by Hanan Kattan of Enlightenment Productions and Juliette Hagopian of Julijette Inc., the film is part of the selection of Telefilm Canada’s Perspective Canada initiative which is holding a market screening at EFM to attract international distribution.
WHEN: Saturday, February 18th, 2023 at 12:50pm
WHERE: Gropius Bau Cinema, Johannisthaler Ch 295, 12351 Berlin, Germany
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfkY0ABP5QA
“We’re excited to bring Polarized to worldwide audiences. It’s a cinematic love story set within a unique and authentic immigrant experience. It reminds us of ‘Minari’ and it’s the type of film that will please international markets,” says Brian Sweet, president of global sales at APL Film.
Starring Holly Deveaux and Maxine Denis, “Polarized” presents a love story between two women separated by race and religion. When a white farm worker (Deveaux) gets fired for racism, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with her Palestinian boss (Denis).
“I like to push the boundaries of the way queer women of color are portrayed. And with Polarized, I believe it’s one of the first times in cinema that we see Palestinian immigrants onscreen who are successful, driving scientific innovation, and in the case of co-lead character Dalia, also queer,” says director Shamim Sarif.
“My wife and producer Hanan Kattan is of Palestinian heritage, and I was raised in a South Asian Muslim family, so these specific immigrant experiences are very familiar to us. We know first-hand the challenges and taboos that continue to exist around being queer in eastern and Muslim cultures,” she adds.
Filmed in Manitoba thanks to funding by the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, the CBC, Manitoba Film & Music, and Creative Europe Media as well as regional tax incentives, the visual world of “Polarized” is related to the vast prairie landscapes these characters live in.
“I wanted a rural world where time moves slower, and where there’s a sense of isolation and emptiness, where small moments, touches, smiles, might impact our characters more deeply. As soon as we scouted Manitoba, I knew that these landscapes would become another character in Polarized,” concludes the director.
Alongside the female leads, Canadian veterans of the screen Tara Samuel and Adam Hurtig bring a diverse balance of East meets West. This includes Middle Eastern talents Hesham Hammoud, Abraham Asto, and Baraka Rahmani, to name a few. The breathtaking cinematography is by Greg Nicod and the poetic arabesque score is by Kevon Cronin.
Shamim Sarif is represented by Dave Brown of Echo Lake Entertainment. ChicArt PR is handling public relations.
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Director Shamim Sarif is presently available for interviews.
Source: Enlightenment Productions
Publicity: ChicArt PR • Patricia • info@ChicArt.world
