Likened to audacious filmmaker Bela Tarr, Egyptian director Karim Hanafy wowed audiences at the Cairo International Film Festival with his striking feature debut The Gate of Departure.
The festival’s only Egyptian world premiere played to packed audiences, leading to a rewarding finale by winning the Silver Pyramid for Best Artistic Contribution.
Pushing boundaries both in story and style, Hanafy compares the film to a haiku poem, where structure ebbs and flows in long, meditative sequences, interrupted with bursts of colour and emotion.
The film opens with a haunting scene of two women walking through a graveyard, followed by a young boy longingly staring out the window. Subsequent images show a beautiful woman slowly brushing her hair, her mother cooking and then arranging candles around a vintage photo.
Rather than opting for a standard narrative, Hanafy aims to create a more nuanced construction of one boy’s entrapment to his mother’s sadness, something he himself...
The festival’s only Egyptian world premiere played to packed audiences, leading to a rewarding finale by winning the Silver Pyramid for Best Artistic Contribution.
Pushing boundaries both in story and style, Hanafy compares the film to a haiku poem, where structure ebbs and flows in long, meditative sequences, interrupted with bursts of colour and emotion.
The film opens with a haunting scene of two women walking through a graveyard, followed by a young boy longingly staring out the window. Subsequent images show a beautiful woman slowly brushing her hair, her mother cooking and then arranging candles around a vintage photo.
Rather than opting for a standard narrative, Hanafy aims to create a more nuanced construction of one boy’s entrapment to his mother’s sadness, something he himself...
- 11/21/2014
- ScreenDaily
The Cairo International Film Festival ended its 36th year with a glitzy ceremony [pictured] below the ancient pyramids on Tuesday.
In an attempt to move forward from previous years when films were overshadowed by protests, or when the festival was altogether cancelled in both 2011 and 2013 due to political upheaval, the Minister of Culture, Gaber Asfour announced “this festival is a fresh new start.”
From actresses Basma Hassan, Lyla Elwi and Ghada Abdel Razek, actors Mahmoud Hemida, Asser Yasin and Tamer Habib to filmmakers Mossad Fouda and Khaled Youssef, a bevy of Egypt’s notable talent were present to help celebrate the conclusion of the ten day event that opened on Nov 9 at the historic Citadel.
From the main sections Film on Films, Festival of Festivals, Special Presentations, International Competition - 45 films screened as Arab and African Premieres, 5 as World Premieres and 4 as International Premieres. Yousra headed the international competition jury, marking the first time the festival had both...
In an attempt to move forward from previous years when films were overshadowed by protests, or when the festival was altogether cancelled in both 2011 and 2013 due to political upheaval, the Minister of Culture, Gaber Asfour announced “this festival is a fresh new start.”
From actresses Basma Hassan, Lyla Elwi and Ghada Abdel Razek, actors Mahmoud Hemida, Asser Yasin and Tamer Habib to filmmakers Mossad Fouda and Khaled Youssef, a bevy of Egypt’s notable talent were present to help celebrate the conclusion of the ten day event that opened on Nov 9 at the historic Citadel.
From the main sections Film on Films, Festival of Festivals, Special Presentations, International Competition - 45 films screened as Arab and African Premieres, 5 as World Premieres and 4 as International Premieres. Yousra headed the international competition jury, marking the first time the festival had both...
- 11/19/2014
- ScreenDaily
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