Showtime Arabia, the leading pay TV in the Mena region, has won an award for enterprise film making for its first independent film production at the Cannes 2009 film festival.

The critically acclaimed “Amreeka”, the feature debut of American Palestinian writer/director Cherien Dabis, which made its debut internationally in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival this month, has won the FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) award.

This is Showtime’s first major step in movie production following several in-house productions including The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour in The Middle East and the Friday Night Live Comedy shows.

“This is our first experience in independent film production and it comes from our belief of supporting content which is directly related to the region,” said Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, president and CEO, Showtime Arabia.

“The film has been a huge success in all the film festivals it has participated in and recently won the FIPRESCI award in Cannes,” he added.

“Amreeka” (America in Arabic) chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of Illinois.

In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle.

A report said that Showtime will give “Amreeka” its TV premiere in the Mena region. – TradeArabia News Service