São Paulo – The 2nd Egyptian Contemporary Film Festival is taking place from January 9 to 12 at the 700-seat Cine Brasília – one of Brasília’s premier theaters. The program includes a documentary and six feature and medium-length movies: “Kiss me Not,” “The Giraffe,” “Before the Summer Crowds” (pictured), “Factory Girl,” “Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim,” “Diamond Dust,” and “Les Petits Chats.”
The goal in showing these award-winning motion pictures that address the dilemmas and yearnings of Egyptian society is to prompt Brasília audiences to realize crucial similarities. Curator Amro Saad said the festival ‘s intended to showcase Egyptian cinema, as well as common issues to Egyptian and Brazilian society – under the theme “In Between Places.”
The festival will also feature an art show on the same theme at the Cine Brasília lobby, coordinated by fine artist Regiane Rocha and featuring work by four other Brazilian artists.
Moviegoers are advised to arrive half an hour before the sessions to collect their tickets. All films will be shown with original audio in Arabic and subtitles in Brazilian Portuguese. Admission is free. The festival had its first edition in São Paulo and Rio in 2017. The event is organized by Orientse, an events and translation company which specializes in Arab culture.
Synopses and schedule at the end of this article
Suspense film “Diamond Dust” (2018, 162 min), by Marwan Hamed, kicks off the festival at 8pm on the 9th. It tells the story of a man who works part-time at a pharmacy whose disabled father gets mysteriously murdered. He sets out to avenge him and gets dragged into a world of crime and corruption.
January 10 will see two films shown: “The Giraffe” (2018, 75 min) is a drama directed by Ahmed Magdy. The eponymous Ahmed journeys through the Cairo nightlife seeking cash to pay for a young woman’s urgent abortion. He comes across an intriguing group of young people led by a woman whose goal is to solve an enigma regarding a giraffe that’s supposedly concealed in the city zoo. An outlandish chain of events unfolds, distracting Ahmed from his mission. The movie shows at 6pm.
“Kiss Me Not” (2017, 103 min), a dramedy by Ahmed Amer, follows a sexy female movie star who decides to embrace religion. The entertainment world and her fans have conflicting opinions about her choice. The session begins at 8pm.
Mohamed Khan’s “Factory Girl” (2013, 92 min) will screen on January 11 at 6pm. It tells the story of the titular Hayam, who lives in a lower-middle class area with colleagues. Their new supervisor becomes her love interest, despite his belonging in a different social stratum, and she realizes that the feeling is mutual. But the harsh reality sets in as a pregnancy test gets found at the factory.
In Sherif Elbendary’s “Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim” (2016, 98 min), Ali believes that his deceased girlfriend’s soul has become reincarnated in a goat. Ali, the goat and his friend Ibrahim go on a journey of friendship and self-discovery across Egypt as they try to undo the curse. The session starts at 8pm.
Mohamed Khan’s drama flick “Before the Summer Crowds” (2016, 90 min) shows at 6pm on the 12th. Set in a beach resort, the movie portrays a group of people who meet as summer begins.
At 8pm, diretor Sherif Nakhla’s documentary “Les Petits Chats” (2015, 80 min) traces the steps of the legendary rock and roll group Les Petits Chats, formed in 1976 by Wagdi Francis, Ezzat Abu Ouf and Omar Khairat. The band’s members reunited 30 years later for a one-off performance.
Egyptian Contemporary Film Festival
January 9-12
Cine Brasília
SHCS EQS 106/107
Brasília – DF
Free admission
Schedule
January 9
7pm – Art show opening
7:30pm – Film Festival opening
8pm –Diamond Dust
January 10
6pm –The Giraffe
8pm – Kiss Me Not
January 11
6pm – Factory Girl
8pm – Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim
January 12
6pm – Before the Summer Crowds
8pm – Les Petits Chats
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
