Ayten Amin’s Souad is a razor-sharp portrayal of sisterhood and sexual awakening that is rarely represented on screen
When the Egyptian director Ayten Amin was 10 years old, a classmate’s sister killed herself. The news gripped the school. But, in a society where suicide is a sin, no one talked about it; instead, they mourned the girl as though she had died mysteriously, or in an accident. “When I was shooting my first film, it suddenly hit me,” Amin says over a video call from her home in Cairo. “How did my classmate feel back then? How did she grow up knowing what happened, but with no one talking about it?”
In her new film, Souad, Amin explores precisely this: the hidden lives of teenage girls in Egypt. It follows the title character (played by Bassant Ahmed) and Rabab (Basmala Elghaiesh), sisters of 19 and 13 living in Zagazig, a small...
When the Egyptian director Ayten Amin was 10 years old, a classmate’s sister killed herself. The news gripped the school. But, in a society where suicide is a sin, no one talked about it; instead, they mourned the girl as though she had died mysteriously, or in an accident. “When I was shooting my first film, it suddenly hit me,” Amin says over a video call from her home in Cairo. “How did my classmate feel back then? How did she grow up knowing what happened, but with no one talking about it?”
In her new film, Souad, Amin explores precisely this: the hidden lives of teenage girls in Egypt. It follows the title character (played by Bassant Ahmed) and Rabab (Basmala Elghaiesh), sisters of 19 and 13 living in Zagazig, a small...
- 8/19/2021
- by Coco Khan
- The Guardian - Film News
Ayten Amin’s teenage drama received a Cannes 2020 label.
BFI Distribution has secured UK and Ireland rights to Ayten Amin’s teenage drama Souad from Brussels-based Best Friend Forever.
The Egyptian drama is set to receive its physical world premiere in competition at Tribeca Film Festival next month, having previously received a Cannes 2020 label and selection for the industry-focused, online-only Berlinale in March.
BFI Distribution is planning a theatrical release in the UK and Ireland on August 27 and it will also feature as the flagship title in BFI Southbank’s upcoming September season, No News From Home, showcasing Arab filmmakers.
BFI Distribution has secured UK and Ireland rights to Ayten Amin’s teenage drama Souad from Brussels-based Best Friend Forever.
The Egyptian drama is set to receive its physical world premiere in competition at Tribeca Film Festival next month, having previously received a Cannes 2020 label and selection for the industry-focused, online-only Berlinale in March.
BFI Distribution is planning a theatrical release in the UK and Ireland on August 27 and it will also feature as the flagship title in BFI Southbank’s upcoming September season, No News From Home, showcasing Arab filmmakers.
- 5/14/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
There are two gods in “Souad,” Allah and smart phones, but in a battle between the two it’s clear who’ll be the winner. Ayten Amin’s bold second feature is brilliantly alive to the contradictions of teenage life in conservative Egypt, where the pressures of social media clash with traditional religious strictures, leading to schizophrenic lives of acute unease. making each character rounded yet ultimately unknowable. Backed by powerhouse regional and European co-producers, Cannes 2020 selection “Souad” can finally be seen following its Berlinale Panorama premiere.
Right from the start, Amin grabs our attention, signaling how she’ll be taking normal situations and giving them a twist. Souad (Bassant Ahmed) pleasantly chats with the conservatively dressed older fellow bus passenger beside her, conveying the image of a good god-fearing young woman excited about medical school and her fiancé. In the next shot and still in a hijab, she projects...
Right from the start, Amin grabs our attention, signaling how she’ll be taking normal situations and giving them a twist. Souad (Bassant Ahmed) pleasantly chats with the conservatively dressed older fellow bus passenger beside her, conveying the image of a good god-fearing young woman excited about medical school and her fiancé. In the next shot and still in a hijab, she projects...
- 3/3/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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