Sony Pictures Classics has acquired “Unidentified,” the latest feature from groundbreaking Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour.
The film reunites Al Mansour with SPC 13 years after it came aboard her landmark 2012 debut “Wadjda,” which became the first feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first feature shot by a female Saudi director and the first Saudi Oscar submission.
Currently in post-production and described as a contemporary Arab-language thriller, “Unidentified” — written and produced by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann (“The Perfect Candidate”) — stars Mila Al Zahrani (“The Perfect Candidate”) and Shafi Al Harthi (“A Woman’s Life”). The story revolves around the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, gets obsessively involved. Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s senseless death will be discarded as a cold case, Al Saffan is determined to identify the body and uncover the truth. She slowly unravels a mystery entangled within a traditional society in transition, where women are learning to create more space for themselves and to take control of their own destinies.
“Unidentified” is an Al Mansour Establishment production, in association with Rotana Studios with the support of the Daw Program, through the Film Commission, KSA. SPC acquired all rights to film for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines.
“I am so excited to re-team with Sony Pictures Classics for the release of my latest film ‘Unidentified,’” said Al Mansour. “SPC championed my very first film ‘Wadjda,’ about a young girl who wanted to ride a forbidden bicycle, before cinema was even legal in the Kingdom. I couldn’t be happier to be working with them again to tell another female-driven story at an equally exciting time of fundamental change in Saudi Arabia.”
The deal was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics, with UTA Independent Film Group and Memento International representing the filmmakers.
“With ‘Wadjda,’ Haifaa Al Mansour became one of the world’s most exciting filmmakers,” said SPC. “We are thrilled to be releasing her newest film, the mystery-thriller ‘Unidentified,’ which is exactly the type of compelling movie that’s thriving in the theatrical marketplace right now. It promises to be a major SPC success at the end of the year.”
