Berlin: Two-Time Oscar Nominee Hany Abu-Assad Preps Palestinian Thriller 'Huda's Salon'

Memento Films is launching the Bethlehem-set film at the European Film Market.

Hany Abu-Assad, the Palestinian director who landed foreign-language Oscar nominations for both Paradise Now in 2005 and Omar in 2013, is prepping his next feature.

Huda's Salon is a tale of blackmail and betrayal set around a hair salon in Bethlehem, its owner Huda and a young mother called Nadia, whose ordinary visit for a haircut turns into something very different.

The film marks Abu-Assad's return to the director's chair in his native homeland after 2017's survival thriller The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. It also sees the filmmaker reunite with both his Paradise Now star Ali Suliman and Maisa Abd Elhadi, who appeared in Abu-Assad's 2015 biopic — and his last feature shot in Palestine — The Idol.

Memento Films will be handling international sales on Huda's Salon and is introducing the film to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin.

Abu Assad and Amira Diab produce the movie through their H & A Production banner together with Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy at his Cairo-based Film Clinic. Mad Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production are co-producers.