Watermelon Pictures
American film company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Watermelon Pictures is an American film production and distribution company founded in 2024 by Badie and Hamza Ali. The company has distributed Israelism (2023), Life Is Beautiful (2023), From Ground Zero (2024), To a Land Unknown (2024), and The Encampments (2025).
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film industry |
| Founded | 2024 |
Area served | United States |
| Website | watermelonpictures |
History
MPI Media Group, an independent distribution company, was founded by the brothers Malik Ali and Waleed Ali. Malik's sons Badie and Hamza Ali[1] launched Watermelon Pictures, a company specializing in film production, financing, and distribution, with Alana Hadid set to serve as creative director, in April 2024.[2][3] The mission of the company is to showcase Palestinians and Arabs, who have been poorly represented and dehumanized in mainstream media.[4][5]
The company's first release Walled Off, a documentary focusing on The Walled Off Hotel, directed by Vin Arfuso, and executive produced by Roger Waters, Kweku Mandela and Anwar Hadid was released on May 3, 2024.[6]
Watermelon Pictures has launched in May 2025 a streaming service, Watermelon+, "that will serve as a home for its upcoming releases as well as several decades’ worth of Palestinian cinema," with the rights to 70 films "including Oscar nominees Omar, 5 Broken Cameras and Theeb".[7]
At the end of 2025, Alana Hadid left Watermelon Pictures but quickly joined as executive producer to Seeds for Liberation (2026), a film by award-winning director Matthew Solomon.[8]
Distributed films
| Release date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2024 | Walled Off | U.S. distribution[9] |
| June 7, 2024 | Israelism | North American distribution[10] |
| November 15, 2024 | Life Is Beautiful | North American distribution[11] |
| January 3, 2025 | From Ground Zero | North American distribution[12] |
| March 28, 2025 | The Encampments | Production and distribution[7] |
| April 4, 2025 | The Teacher | U.S. distribution[13] |
| July 11, 2025 | To a Land Unknown | North American distribution[14][15] |
| August 8, 2025 | Sudan, Remember Us | U.S. distribution[16] |
| August 15, 2025 | The Glassworker | U.S. distribution[17][18] |
| October 7, 2025 | Pistachio Wars | Worldwide distribution[19] |
| November 20, 2025 | Shoot the People | Worldwide distribution[20] |
| November 28, 2025 | All That's Left of You | North American distribution[21] |
| December 17, 2025 | The Voice of Hind Rajab | Production company[22][23] |
| February 6, 2026 | White Man Walking | North American distribution[24] |
| February 13, 2026 | Palestine 36 | North American distribution[25] |