Koudéta Films Takes French Rights to Gaza Drama 'Thirteen in Gaza'

Paris and New York impact studio Koudéta Films has acquired the French distribution rights to Thirteen in Gaza, the first feature from Palestinian director Hosam Abu Dan, according to Variety, which reported the deal on 3 November 2026. Distribution rights are the permission to release a film in a given country, and they decide who gets to buy a ticket there.

The deal was closed by Mad World, the international sales arm of Pan-Arab distributor Mad Solutions. It came ahead of the film's Middle East premiere at the Doha Film Festival, which runs from 19 to 27 November. The film was selected for the festival's 2026 International Feature lineup, the festival said in an October announcement.

The story follows a motherless thirteen-year-old, Raghad, growing up in a displacement camp in Gaza. Mary Ziyara plays Raghad, and Feras Al Masri plays her father. Deadline describes it as a father-and-daughter drama, and its first trailer was released in September.

The film was shot in Gaza under wartime conditions with a Palestinian crew. Variety reports that it is the first film shot on the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023.

Its path to screens has already run through a major festival. The film had its world premiere in September in the Centrepiece programme at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC Award, a prize that promotes Asian cinema. Watermelon Pictures has picked it up for distribution in the United States.

Koudéta Films plans a theatrical release in France, meaning a run in cinemas, backed by what it calls an impact campaign. That is outreach built around a film's social themes, often with screenings and talks alongside the ordinary advertising. The studio is also launching a French distribution label for political and social films, with Palestine at the heart of its mission. The French release date has not yet been announced.

Each step in this chain belongs to a different person. A sales agent sells the film to a buyer, a festival programmer chooses it, a distributor decides which country to open in and when. A film can sit on a festival shelf for months before a French cinema ever books it. For this one, the next visible decision is the date, and that will come later.