Viu, a leading pan-regional OTT video streaming service operated by Viu International Limited, has announced the premiere of its two highly-anticipated original productions Ansaf Majaneen and Wadi Al Jinn on Sunday, December 6, 2020 as part of the programme of Cairo Industry Days, a segment of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). 

Ansaf Majaneen co-stars Ahmed Khaled Saleh and Asmaa Galal and is directed by Omar Rushdy Hamed. The psychological thriller follows the story of Anas, a heart transplant patient (played by Saleh) who hears the voice of his donor urging him to solve a mystery that he failed to solve in his own lifetime.  

Wadi Al Jinn boasts rising Arab talent from Egypt, including Youssef Othman, Layla Ahmed Zaher, Roa Channouha, Hana Daoud, Hasan Malik, Cynthia Khalifeh and Abdelrahman Al Yamani. They are backed by leading stars Bushra Rozza, Khaled Kamal, Reham Saeed, Mohsen Mansour and Firas Sa’id. The fictional series, directed by Hossam El Gohary, follows the story of four college students who explore the mysterious Wadi Al Jinn caves and find themselves in a hidden underworld dominated by evil forces. 

Mr. Abe Aboul Naga, general manager of Viu Middle East, said, “We are honoured to partner with CIFF for the second year in a row and to bring Viu Original series to the Egyptian audience for the very first time. This unique partnership reinforces Viu’s vision to collaborate with and create opportunities for different stakeholders of the Egyptian and pan-Arab film and TV industry.” 

Following the red-carpet screening of the Viu Original series, Cairo Industry Days will host a panel discussion on the creation of partnerships and opportunities for talent by OTT players, featuring Viu Original as a success story. Panelists will include Mr. Abe Aboul Naga, renowned screenwriter Mariam Naoum, executive producer Ayman Naguib, as well as Egyptian rising star Ahmed Khaled Saleh and much-loved Lebanese actress Cynthia Khalifah.  

In 2019, Viu and CIFF jointly launched a competition in which emerging Egyptian storytellers presented their films to industry experts for a chance to win a production grant for their entries to be hosted exclusively on Viu.  

The list of films that won in the competition includes: are Public Indecency written and directed by Khaled Khella and produced by Moustafa Salah, Mama written and directed by Naji Ismail and produced by Kawthar Younis and Amira Sherif, Water Enough for Drowning written by Ahmed Farghaly, directed by Joseph Adel and produced by Mark Lotfy and Mohamed Taimur, and Strawberry written and directed by Manal Saad and produced by Ramy El Gabry. 

Ms. Aliaa Zaki, Head of Cairo Industry Days, said, “Partnering with Viu is another testament to how CIFF, through its industry platform Cairo Industry Days, acts as an important platform for creating opportunities and establishing synergies between different stakeholders of the film and TV industry. We are excited to extend our collaboration with Viu for another year and look forward to more future engagements between the two organizations.” 

Ansaf Majaneen and Wadi Al Jinn will be available to Viu Premium subscribers in the first quarter of 2021.