Case Study - Sink
Tuesday 14 april, 11:00 - 11:45, Scandic Hotel, 3rd floor, Learning 1A case study on the feature film SINK by director Zain Duraie, produced by Alaa Alasad, winner of the MAFF Industry Days Development Fund for Feature Film Projects in 2019.
The film explores mental health and family dynamics through the story of a mother struggling to cope with her teenage son’s psychological breakdown within a family environment marked by silence, avoidance, and fear of acknowledgment.
The session will look at the film’s development journey, from the early stages of the project to financing, production, and international collaborations, specifically with Sweden, while also reflecting on the creative and practical challenges faced along the way and the film’s path after its premiere.
Director
Zain Duraie
Zain Duraie is Jordanian writer and director, known for her acclaimed short film Give Up the Ghost which was at the Orizzonti shorts competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. Duraie won several awards such as Best Arab short at El Gouna Film Festival, Vimeo Staff Pick Award at the Palm Springs shorts fest, and was selected as short of the week. In 2024, Duraie was selected at the Berlinale Talents and named as Screendaily’s Arab Star of Tomorrow.
Producer
Alaa Alasad
Alaa Alasad is a film producer and distributor based between Dubai and Amman. He is co-founder of Tabi360 and Head of Production & Distribution at Creative Media Solutions, working across arthouse films, documentaries, and shorts in the MENA region and internationally.
His recent work includes Sink (2025) and Yunan (2025), with upcoming films such as Amara (2025), Jo of Montreal (2025), and Carnaval (2026). He also worked on Tala’vision (2020), shortlisted for the Academy Awards, and Give Up the Ghost (2019), which premiered in Venice. Alasad has co-produced Saudi films like Born a King (2019) and Champions (2021), and collaborates internationally on financing, co-productions, and distribution, while also mentoring filmmakers as a pitching trainer.
Moderator: Film Critic Ahmed Shawky
He is an Egyptian film critic, programmer, and elected president of the international film critics federation (FIPRESCI). Publishing weekly articles about the cinema and entertainment industry. He has also published nine books on Egyptian cinema.
Shawky is also the president of Egyptian film critics association (EFCA). He is the head of CineGouna Funding, the industry program of El Gouna Film Festival.
He worked as an artistic director/ programmer for many film festivals including Cairo, Malmo, Aswan, Tripoli, Mumbai, among others. He acted as jury in various festivals such as Locarno, Shanghai, Eurasia, Transylvania, Macao, Luxembourg, Oran, and Taipei. Shawky was the president of the Cannes film festival 2022 FIPRESCI Jury and of the same Jury in Berlinale 2025.