Soudadekaadan, a new generation of Arab film directors, has created some amazing works.“The Day I Lost My Shadow”Lina Soualem (“Their Algeria”) are among standouts being presented at the upcoming Cairo Film Connection, the Cairo Film Festival’s co-production platform, where eight out of 15 selected projects are by female filmmakers.
This year, more than a third of the CFC selection is made up of first-time helmers presenting projects, alongside names who’ve made a splash with their debuts and are now working on their second films, and other directors making their first narrative features after establishing themselves in the documentary world.
Mohamed Hefzy, president of Cairo Film Festival, proudly noted that 110 submissions were received. Most of them were first-timers.
“We’ve decided to take risks in our choices and shine a light on new and eclectic talents,”Chadi Zeneddine is the new CFC manager and a former Doha Film institute programmer.
The three features in post, likely to hit the festival circuit soon, comprise Kaadan’s new Syria-set drama “Nezouh,” about a tough family conflict prompted by the country’s civil war. “Nezouh” follows after Kaadan won the 2018 Venice Film Festival’s Lion of the Future with “The Day I Lost My Shadow.”Hotly anticipated movie being directed by Oscar-winning producer Donna Gigliotti“Shakespeare in Love”) and has already landed distribution deals in France (Pyramide), China (Stars Collective), and across the MENA region (MAD Solutions).
CFC Festival Programmers and buyers will be presented with the remaining two features, which are coming-of age dramas. “A Summer in Boujad”Omar Mouldouira is a Moroccan first-timer. “Alam – The Flag,” also a first feature, by Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury. “Flag”Follow a 17-year old Palestinian-Israeli who falls in love with a beautiful, politically engaged new classmate. This leads to a dangerous protest against the Israeli government.
These seven features are currently under development “My Driver and I,”Ahd Kamel, a New York-trained Saudi actress/director, has made a buzzy debut as a director“Collateral,” “Wadjda”). It’s a coming-of-age story about a Saudi girl growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, and her friendship with her driver, based on Kamel’s personal experience.
“Nour” (pictured) by Egypt’s Sara Shazli (“Let’s Talk”), who is making the transition from features to docs, is a coming-of-age drama involving a close friendship between two teenage girls that becomes toxic; Brooklyn-based Egyptian director Farida Zahran’s Cairo-set comedy “The Leftover Ladies,”This story is about a 63 year-old woman who attempts to leave her polygamist husband. “Aicha,”Mehdi Barbaoui directs a portrait of a Tunisian woman, thirty-something, struggling with social pressures and disillusionment.“A Son”) are among other standout features in development.
These are the selected document projects currently in development “Bye Bye Tiberias,”Lina Soualem‘s followup to her poignant family portrait “Their Algeria” that won several prizes. In “Tiberias” the Paris-based French-Palestinian-Algerian multi-hyphenate, who is the daughter of Palestinian actor and director Hiam Abbas, unveils the multiple layers of her mother’From leaving Deir Hanna, a Palestinian village in Galilee, to becoming the famous star she is today, this was her story. One of few Arab talent who regularly appears in American movies. “Blade Runner 2049”AndHulu’s upcoming “Hellraiser.”
CFC Selection features five projects from Egypt and three from Tunisia. One project is from each country: Algeria, Lebanon and Palestine, Saudi Arabia. Iraq, Morocco, Syria.
Complete list of Cairo Film Connection projects
Narrative Projects in Development
“The Leftover Ladies” (Egypt)
Director: Farida Zahran
“My Driver and I” (Saudi Arabia, U.K.)
Ahd Kamel, Director
“Life After Siham” (Egypt, France)
Director: Nameer AbdelMassih
“Nour” (Egypt)
Director: Sara Shazli
“In the Land of Aram” (Lebanon, Armenia)
Director: Tamara Stepanyan
“Ravens of the City” (Egypt, Sudan)
Director: Adham El-Sherif
“Aicha” (Tunisia, France)
Director: Mehdi Barsaoui
Documentaries in Development
“Bullets Do Not Kill. Silence Does” (Tunisia, France)
Director: Hind Meddeb
“American Dream” (Egypt)
Director: Amir El Shenawy
“Bye Bye Tiberias” (Algeria, France, Belgium, Qatar)
Director: Lina Soualem
Narrative Features after Production
“A Summer in Boujad” (Morocco)
Director: Omar Mouldouira
“Alam – The Flag” (Palestine, France)
Firas Khany, Director
“Nezouh” (Syria)
Director: Soudade Kaadan
Post-Production Documentaries
“Mohsen of Iraq” (Iraq, Costa Rica)
Director: Ishtar Yasin
“On the Hill” (Tunisia)
Director: Belhassen Handous