When Monaliza Smiled

Friday 11/07 at St. Anthony Main Theatre 7:30pm | get tickets >>>

Synopsis:
It must be difficult to grow up with a name like Monaliza in a working class Amman neighborhood; all the more difficult to have been given the name as a matrimonial act of spite. It is not a surprise that Monaliza has little interest in smiling, that is, until she meets charming Egyptian expatriate Hamdi. As they fall in love, they must negotiate their relationship’s expected and unexpected challenges: not only their socioeconomic and family backgrounds, but also a prevalent bias against international romance. Not that the film ever preaches; its quirky characters are too busy making us laugh.

2012
95 minutes
Narrative feature
Directed by: Fadi Haddad
Language: Arabic
Country: Jordan
Website | Trailer

“When Monaliza Smiled (Lamma Dehkat Monaliza) is, of all things, a Jordanian rom-com made with a whole lot of respect for the genre and yet coming up with something engagingly modest and suitably sweet natured to work for a local audience.” (link)

Festivals and Awards:
-Dubai International Film Festival: Official Selection
-Arab Film Festival (California): Official Selection
-Malmo Arab Film Festival: Official Selection

Filmmaker bio (conveyed by producer):
Fadi Haddad is the creative producer of the award-winning Jordanian feature film The Last Friday (2010) which screened at the 2013 TCAFF. His film “High Heels” won the Best Jordanian Short Film Award in the Franco-Arab Film Festival in 2009. Fadi holds an MFA from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan. He is an assistant professor of digital production and storytelling at Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication in the American University in Dubai.