"The Settlement" Trailer Drops Ahead of GFF Premiere

In conjunction with the release of the official poster, MAD Solutions has unveiled the official trailer for the workplace thriller "The Settlement", ahead of its Arab World premiere as part of the official competition at the eighth El Gouna Film Festival, taking place from October 16th to 24th.

Unfolding with slow-burning tension, the trailer follows two brothers as they begin working at the factory where their father died in a tragic accident, stirring questions about the circumstances of his death and the silence that followed, until it culminates in a charged moment when the elder asks his younger sibling, “Do you want me to go back to what I used to be?” —a line that shifts the course of events.

Inspired by true events, the film follows two brothers — 23-year-old Hossam and his 12-year-old sibling Maro — living in a marginalized community in Alexandria. After their father dies in a workplace accident, the local factory offers them jobs as compensation, sidestepping legal accountability. As they settle into their new roles, the brothers begin to question the circumstances surrounding their father’s death.

Written and directed by Mohamed Rashad, the film held its world premiere to critical acclaim in the Perspectives section of this year’s Berlin International Film Festival — the only Egyptian film featured in that category; it later received its first accolade, the Audience Award at the sixth MiWorld Young Film Festival, before continuing its international journey with screenings at Italy’s African, Asian, and Latin American Film Festival (FESCAAL) and the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen.

Featuring rising talents Adham Shukr, Ziad Islam, Hajar Omar, Mohamed Abdel Hady, and Emad Ghoneim, "The Settlement" is shot by cinematographer Mahmoud Lotfi and edited by Heba Othman, known for her work on the acclaimed Sudanese film "Goodbye Julia."

A joint production between Egypt, France, Germany, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, the film is produced by Hala Lotfy of Hassala Films (Cairo), with co-producers Etienne de Ricaud of Caractères Productions (Paris), Kesmat Elsayed of Seera Films GmbH (Berlin), and ART (Jeddah). 

Ricaud’s recent film "My Favourite Cake" won both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Berlinale, while Elsayed’s "Abo Zaabal 89" was awarded Best Feature Documentary at the 45th Cairo International Film Festival. 

MAD World handles global sales, while MAD Distribution oversees distribution across the Arab World.

During its development phase, "The Settlement" received support from a slew of prestigious international funding bodies, including the Berlinale World Cinema Fund, IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund Script and Development Initiative along with Hubert Bals Plus Co-Production Minority Support, the Doha Film Institute, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Red Sea Development Fund, the Fonds Image De La Francophonie Fund, and the El Gouna Film Festival’s CineGouna Funding.

Watch "The Settlement" trailer below.