Laila Abbas’ highly anticipated female empowerment drama THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! is poised to hold its world premiere as part of the official competition of the 68th BFI London Film Festival, which is scheduled to run from October 9th to the 20th.
Within the realms of Abbas’ feature-length debut, a fascinating story of the bond between siblings unfolds following Mariam and Noura's father's death. After finding out that he left a huge sum of money behind, the sisters come up with an elaborate scheme to abscond with the money before their brother — who is legally entitled to half the inheritance — finds out about their father’s death.
Discussing the film's themes, director Laila Abbas said: “This story is about womanhood and the need for women to stay close emotionally and physically to triumph.”
“It’s a story about sisters who, having gone through their respective tragedies and heartbreaks, bond together to become stronger,” she added.
With MAD World handling the film's worldwide sales and distribution rights, THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! is a joint production between Germany and Palestine that is written and directed by Laila Abbas. It is co-produced by Founder and Artistic Director of Palestine Cinema Days Hanna Atallah and Ronza Kamel through their company August Films and Roshanak Behesht Nedjad through her Berlin-based production outfit, In Good Company Films.
In a harmonious union of cinematic prowess, MAD Solutions, the world’s leading distributor of Arabic-language films, and Lagoonie Film Production, the Cairo and Riyadh-based production entity, have also teamed up to co-produce THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US!
THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! has received support thus far from the El Gouna Film Festival in 2018 through four $10,000 grants from ART, Cedars Productions, O Three Productions, and Metafora, respectively. Moreover, it won the In-Development Award from the CineGouna Platform and was supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture as well as the Doha Film Institute’s 2023 edition of the Qumra Initiative.
With additional funding from German film funds (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg), and the Hubert Bals Plus Europe of International Film Festival Rotterdam, THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US! stands as a testament to the power of collective artistic vision. Notably, it was also among the winners of the Red Sea Fund’s third cycle.
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.