Mad World, the global sales arm of pan-Arab independent Mad Solutions, has acquired international rights to Egyptian director Mohamed Rashad's "Reconciliation" ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Inspired by a true story, "Reconciliation" will be launched in Berlin's new opinion section and tells the story of two brothers: 23-year-old troublemaker Hossam and 12-year-old Maro, who live in a marginalized neighborhood in Alexandria. After their father dies in a factory workplace accident, they are hired by the same factory as "compensation" for their losses rather than taking legal action.

As they take on their new jobs, they begin to question whether their father's death was truly an accident and how to fix it.

The social thriller is Rashad's first narrative feature since 2016's documentary Kitty, which explored left-wing radicalism in Egypt in the 1970s through the lens of the filmmaker's own family history. .

In a statement, Rashad emphasized that it took five years to bring "Reconciliation" to the big screen.

"Throughout the filmmaking process, I was able to realize my ambitions, such as casting completely unknown actors, and having real crew members play important roles and groups. I also shot in real locations, capturing the scenes of Alexander, The scenes fit really well with my vision and what I thought was an artsy, industrial vibe,” he says.

Starring Adham Shoukry Ziad Islam, Hajar Omar, Mohamed Abdel Hady and Emad Ghoneim, "Reconciliation" was shot by cinematographer Mahmoud Lotfi ("Day Comes") and edited by Heba Othman, whose credits include the groundbreaking Sudan drama "Goodbye, Julia."

The film is co-produced by Egypt, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Lead producers are Hala Lotfy of Hassala Films (Cairo), who co-produces with Etienne de Ricaud of Caractères Productions (Paris); Kesmat Elsayed of Seera Films GmbH (Berlin); and ART (Jeddah).

"While 'Reconciliation' is certainly an arthouse film, it's certainly not low-budget," Lofy noted. She called the production "a demanding but ultimately rewarding endeavor that involved filming in Cairo and Alexandria Shot on location to stay true to the story and source material.”

"Reconciliation" has received financial support from the Berlinale World Cinema Fund and a number of prestigious international funding agencies including the IFFR Hubert Bales Fund; the Doha Film School; the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture; the Red Sea Development Fund; Fonds Image De La Francophonie Foundation and CineGouna of the El Gouna Film Festival.