THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! wins Best Feature at Beirut Women and Best Screenplay at Malmö

Palestinian director Laila Abbas’ THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! notably took home two back-to-back awards, winning Best Fiction Feature at the eighth Beirut International Women Film Festival (April 27th – May 3rd), as well as Best Screenplay at Sweden’s 15th Malmö Arab Film Festival (April 29th – May 5th).

THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! is a sister-heist comedy with a dose of social commentary.  It stars Yasmine Al-Masri, Clara Khoury, Kamil Al-Basha, and Ashraf Barhoum. A joint Palestinian-German-Qatari production — with the acclaimed Hanna Atalla on board as a producer — the film tells the tale of Mariam and Noura, whose father passes away, leaving behind a substantial inheritance. The sisters plot to claim the fortune before their brother learns of their father’s death, as he is legally entitled to half the inheritance; a reality the sisters perceive as unjust.

Speaking on her film, director Abbas states, “A heist film? A thriller? A familial drama? A comedy? My film is all of these; its story is about womanhood and the need for women to stay close emotionally and physically to triumph.”

Notably, the film embarked on an extensive festival run, premiering globally at the BFI London Film Festival before screening at over 15 international festivals. Along the way, it earned a slew of awards, including a Golden Star at Egypt’s  El Gouna Film Festival, Best Film at China’s Golden Rooster Awards, and a Silver Alexander for Best Director at Greece’s Thessaloniki Film Festival.

Already quite the busy month for the film, it recently screened to eager audiences at Zawya Cinema, Cairo’s designated art-house cinema hotspot, for the second consecutive week.

Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer, and academic who studied cinema in Jordan and then film and TV production at the Royal Holloway University in the UK with a Said Foundation Scholarship.

In 2013, she made a splash with her documentary ICE & DUST, which followed a young Palestinian woman who crossed the Atlantic to search for a better life in Canada. She also worked as an instructor at the Institute of Modern Media at Alquds University. Abbas founded the production company Young Oak Productions, and was selected for the Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents Program to nurture emerging filmmakers.

Hanna Atallah is a filmmaker, producer, and cultural art manager based between Berlin and Jerusalem known for his work on UPSHOT — which world premiered at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Pardino d’Oro Swiss Life for Best Auteur Short Film Award and the Junior Jury Award for the Best Auteur Short Film — A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM, and STANDING ON THE WIND.

With the creation of the non-profit organization Filmlab Palestine in 2014 located in Ramallah, Atallah developed a platform to activate cinema culture and professional knowledge exchange in Palestine that opened the door for a regional and international network for Palestinian film professionals.

Laila Abbas — a 2019 Berlinale Talents alumnus — is a Palestinian filmmaker and academic who studied cinema in Jordan and film & TV production at Royal Holloway University in the UK with a Said Foundation Scholarship. In 2013, she released her acclaimed film ICE & DUST then worked as an instructor at the Institute of Modern Media at Alquds University.