Dir: Mohamed Subahi | Sudan, Doc 75′

A lively documentary despite its tragic subject matter charting the history of modern Sudan through the lives of three people in today’s Khartoum.

The country has experienced turbulent upheavals but on the streets of the capital there is an indomitable spirit at play. Here ordinary people are striving for democracy buoyed by their sunny enthusiasm and determination to bring about change. To keep us appraised of Sudan’s recent history the director makes ample use of inter-titles with key dates and historical facts.

Acting as his own DoP and editor Mohamed Subahi sets the scene at a pivotal moment in the Sudanese Revolution that began in December 2018. The three are campaigning in various local movements but their interweaving stories are full of positivity and hope, and the mood is enhanced with vibrant camerawork by Subahi and his co-DoP Algaddal Hassan who capture the febrile intensity and the passion of the Sudanese youth who aspire towards a fully democratic republic irrespective of creed and colour. Sadly, the only violence seem to come from the authorities. Despite ugly scenes that see the police opening fire, the people press on with their peaceful protest, terrified out of the lives. @MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

Dir: Carlos Marques-Marcet | Cast: Alfredo Castro, Angela Molina, Monica Almirall | Spain 106mins

Euthanasia is a hot topic at the moment with The Room Next Door taking the Golden Lion at Venice 2024 and now this end of life drama from Spain’s Carlos Marques-Marcet who puts a positive spin on the subject winning an award Toronto and Valladolid only weeks later.

The film is so upbeat and pragmatic it incorporates jaunty dance sequences and even are aria from Maria Callas into the storyline that kicks off with a histrionic outburst from Claudia (Molina), an actor who has been struck down with a brain tumour and is quickly calmed down by her theatre director husband Flavio (Castro) in their comfortable home. Many may find the comedy treatment inappropriate but it suits the emotional pitch of a couple who are facing up to the final years with jokey humour and dignity.

Claudia wants to go to Dignitas Switzerland but Flavio refuses to left be left alone and opts to die by her side. But their daughter Violeta (Batet) is not convinced, and finds herself engaging in persuasive debate between her parents in a discussion that give the drama  potent emotional freight although the subject is not played out with quite the same rigour as the feeling that erupt.

Such is their devotion to one another that Claudia and Flavio decide to renew their vows with some cringeworthy moments for their extended family. It’s always awkward and faintly embarrassing when long-term couples insist on egging the omelette by imposing their  declarations of devotion and undying love for each other on their nearest and dearest. But these two are so wrapped up in one another they fail to notice or even care. And in some ways this adds grist to the drama that plays out, as predicted, with an airing of privately shared songs as so on.

When Claudia is asked by the clinic to provide a “playlist to die to” it soon becomes clear that she is very much a diva who wants her ‘swansong’ to be a memorable performance for everyone in the family whether appropriate or not. Veteran actor Molina certainly gives gusto to her dying character as the star turn of this intense and intelligent film. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea @MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 | Special Screening

Dir/Wri: Payal Kapadia | Cast: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon | India Drama 110′

Writer-director Payal Kapadia‘s Mumbai set feature All We Imagine As Light was the first Indian film to compete for the Palme d’Or in nearly three decades; an impressive achievement for a first time filmmaker, especially an Indian woman who went on to win the Grand Prix in 2024.

The last time an Indian film made it into the main competition was Shaji N Karun’s Swaham in 1994. Sadly it went home empty-handed losing out to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Kapadia’s poetic yet powerful documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, won the Golden Eye for best documentary at Cannes in 2021.

Unfolding in two parts and shifting deftly from realism to reverie All We Imagine As Light centres on two women caught in impossible love stories in modern day Mumbai. Prabha, a nurse, shares a flat with Anu, yet they hardly know each other and are further constrained from forming a friendship due to shameful secrets that trap them from sharing their personal lives. Both women are disappointed by love, for differing reasons, and this emotional claustrophobia pervades the first part of the drama.

There’s nothing brash or bossy about these characters they both bear their difficulties with restraint and modesty. Anu, a Hindu, is in love with a Muslim man and forced to conceal her relationship due to societal constraints. All the two of them want is to make love but this is frowned upon, even nowadays.

Prabha is caught in an arranged marriage with a man who has since cleared off to his village. One day, out of the blue, a rice cooker arrives in the post, supposedly from her estranged husband. This innocent gift sends Prabha into a deep depression, opening up fresh wounds of romantic disillusionment and upsetting her emotional equilibrium once again. She is a married woman constrained by all the ties that it implies, but the disappearance of her husband leaving her lonely and desperate.

The second part of the film brings an uplifting almost dreamlike tonal shift that sees the women freed from their inertia when they set off on a road trip to a beach resort where a mystical forest creates  space for dreams to be unleashed.

Kapadia’s film touches on traditional themes of abandonment, religious intolerance, female friendship and sexual liberation that are still all too relevant in today’s India with its impressive technical and financial advances: Men are free but many women are still sadly stuck in the dark ages. Meanwhile in the West men and women are enjoying the freedoms of gay marriage, gay parenthood, and sexual transitioning. A thoughtful, richly thematic and beautifully captured film enhanced by a magical score and two sensitive performances from leads Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha. @MeredithTaylor

IN CINEMAS FROM 23 NOVEMBER 2024

Dir/Wri: Noha Adel | Cast: Main cast: Reem Safwat, Rehab Anan, Carol Ackad, Kawthar Younis | Egypt/France. 2024. 96mins

Conflict is never far away in this female centric film inspired by a poem from Egyptian Salah Jahin that begins ’Spring came on laughing but finds me in sorrow’.

A first feature for Egypt’s Noha Adel, screening at this year’s Cairo International Film Festival, shows how an upbeat anodyne conversation can suddenly take a turn into darker more confrontational territory when four women get together to discuss their lives, loves and dreams in Cairo. Tonally the drama feels rather one note with emotions running high and often out of control, each person raising their voice but not really listening to the another.

The film is made up of four spring-set tales and a wrapping finale. It opens with Salwa (Sally Abdou) and her daughter Reem (Reem Safwat) meeting their elderly neighbour Mukhtar (Mukhtar Younis) and his son Shady (Shady Hakim) for afternoon tea. A polite cultural exchange of views about theatre, cinema and literature suddenly turns tense when someone says the wrong thing, and the dynamic switches from convivial tete-a-tete to pistols at dawn. .

The next segment takes place in May at a birthday lunch for Zazou (Rehab Anan). The entente cordiale once again turns sour in a celebration that should have been joyful. These women seem intent on jumping down each other’s throats, and when a simple misunderstanding causes offence, longterm friends turn into sworn enemies.

The previous month, in April, the scene is set at a beauty salon where one of the staff, Abeer (Reem Al Aqqad) is suddenly accused of theft, unearthing a litany of petty grievances as souls are bared in no uncertain terms, and events turn histrionic. A March wedding is then disrupted when Kawthar (Kawthar Younis), an uninvited guest, makes an unwelcome appearance much to the consternation of the bride Lili (Carol Ackad).

Sometimes feeling like four short films welded together, rather than a cohesive whole feature, Spring Comes on Laughing feels  repetitive with the same grievances being aired and the same hysterical soul-searching. The women want to project an image of success and satisfaction but this is only skin deep. Scratch the surface and they are actually dissatisfied, angry and negative, especially about the men in their lives. This chaotic vibe is accentuated by Sara Yahia’s mobile camera that ducks and dives in an attempt to keep up with the mayhem.

So a brave attempt at allowing women to air their views but a space for calm contemplation and measured debate, rather than continuous hysteria, would be have been most welcome. MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

Dir: Houssain El-Din Mustafa | Egypt, Drama 122′

The Beggar is a lyrical love story directed by Houssaim El-Din Mustafa who looks at one man’s search for the meaning of life in 1970s Cairo.

This seventies cult classic really captures the era with a score of hits from Marc Bolan (“Jeapster for your Love”), Semprini and even Jimi Hendrix. A nightclub singer croons Shirley Bassey’s “Something in the Way He Moves”; a teenager rocks false eye lashes and black ‘kinky boots’. There’s snogging in bed, cleavages aplenty (and that’s just the women). There’s even a product placement for Johnny Walker whisky.

Sexual jealousy, infidelity and religion must have been provocative themes in the Middle East back then, yet Egypt emerges as a fun, permissive place to be, at least for middle classes. But what starts as a lighthearted comedy often drifts into dark melodrama. These tonal shifts are managed with dexterity, the humour giving way to some emotionally fraught scenes in chintzy domestic settings by the Nile with a riverside panorama that shows the 5-star Cairo Sofitel still under construction.

The focus is Mr Omar (Mahmoud Moursy), a sharp-suited lawyer caught in a midlife crisis and a loveless marriage to Zeinab (Maryam Fakhruddin). The stooge is his beret-toting, pipe-smoking friend Mr Mustafa (a sort of Egyptian Jacques Tati) who introduces him to nightclub singer Miss Margaret. Things move fast, but sadly married men are not her bag, and Omar realises his predicament.

The lawyer then meets Belly dancer Warda at the Capri Nightclub. And he’s smitten. Put off by his marital status and kids, Warda also turns him down. So Omar vents his frustration by accelerating at top speed when driving her home: it’s a clever psychologic ploy that uses terror to create sexual tension allowing Omar to finally get his leg over. Trying to change his life, he creates a kitsch love nest with a wardrobe full of the latest fashions for Warda, but soon, as predicted, he loses interest.

Omar’s problem is not clearly sexual frustration, but a lack of self-realisation. Financial success is not the only goal in life. Wracked with guilt at lying to his wife and daughter, and unfulfilled by his romantic encounters, the lawyer gives up his practice to a former colleague Osman, and turns to Sufism in the hope of enlightenment, amid scenes that use magic realism to push home the spiritualism of this branch of Islam.

The Beggar is an intelligent and entertaining film despite its rather convoluted and confusing ending. Seventies Egypt is still a man’s world where most women are seen as simpering side-kicks, happy to stay and home and look after the children, even though some are outwardly emancipated in the creative industry. Interestingly the director highlights the close father/daughter relationship that sees Omar, by his own omission, as his teenager’s close friend, and not just her loving her father. @MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

WriDirs: Carol Mansour, Muna Khalidi | Doc 89′

Filmmakers Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi are close friends of the Abu Sittan family and explore from an intensely personal angle the life and work of Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah who works tirelessly to save lives in his native Gaza. 

Hassan is actually based in London where he runs a Harley Street clinic specialising in complex lip surgery. But when duty calls he jumps on a plane to the region and provides emergency support, just as he has done during five conflicts involving Israel, as well as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

An opening segment makes uses of mobile phone footage and storyboarded images to introduce the well known surgeon who is passionately driven in a humanitarian cause to treat survivors of airstrikes and bombs blasts during the recent conflict in Gaza that has touched so many lives.

There are interviews with his mother and wife Dima who describe their fears of living with a close loved one whose life puts him in danger every single day. The film them scrolls backwards and forwards describing his childhood and education and his determination to become a doctor.

Avoiding sensationalism the directors follow Ghassan’s emergency surgery in the only single functioning hospital in the war zone where he is forced to choose which victims are worth saving. He remembers one night performing six amputations involving children. The injuries are brutal and indiscriminate so he operates a tough triage system. Sometimes only limbs are discovered in the rubble. There is a cemetery dedicated to children’s appendages. 

In scenes of utter devastation we witness bomb sites strewn with tee-shirts and plastic shoes that have literally melted in the heat of the blasts. Gruelling, almost unwatchable scenes in the aftermath to an incursion bear witness to the broken bodies and blood-soaked floors. No family is left untouched by the ghastly events.

Most recently he has been lobbying in the UK parliament for end to the genocide, citing Israel’s purported use of white phosphorus in attacks on children and babies. Together with his solicitor he is mounting a war crimes case. And it’s here that the documentary claims the Israelis are trying to discredit his efforts. @MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

A pioneer in the African and Arab world Egyptian cinema has an impressive legacy that dates back to the 1890s. With over four thousand features, shorts and documentaries produced across the region, the country’s film industry has been a cornerstone of creativity showcasing the nation’s cultural heritage and creating a bridge between the generations.

Flaws are removed by hand | copyright Filmuforia.com

Many of these film classics are being restored to their former glory at the Egyptian Media Production City, on the outskirts of the capital Cairo. This vast hub stretches over two million square metres in addition to one more million square metres located within the Media Free Zone. EMPC is home to ninety state of art film studios, where new films and series are currently in production. These services contribute to providing Arab and foreign production companies with all the necessary facilities for shooting their films including sound stages, backlots and a state of the art Dolby Atmos studio for sound mixing.

copyright Filmuforia.com

In the Heritage Restoration Centre a team of highly experienced craftsman undertake the process of restoration of TV and classic films which includes repairing and correcting flaws, cleaning,  scanning and transforming into digital content. This gives cineastes and newcomers to classic cinema the chance to experience films for the first time in high resolution formats.

colour correction before and after at EMPC | copyright Filmuforia.com

This year’s Cairo International Film Festival presented fourteen newly restored classics for screening in their own special strand. Festival president, director and actor Hussein Fahmy, is fully supportive of the restoration of classic cinema and is currently committed to restoring a further ten films at the Egypt Media Production City. @MeredithTaylor

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

Colour correction process

Wri/Dir: Rashid Masharawi | Drama 81’

An intelligent and thoughtful film kicks off this year’s CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  Passing Dreams is a feature-length Palestinian film written and directed by Rashid Masharawi. Upbeat and full of optimism throughout the film follows Sami, a 12-year-old boy, who embarks on a journey across Palestine with his uncle (Ashraf Barhom) and teenage cousin Maryam (Emilia Massou)

It will be an eventful voyage of discovery – of each other, and the people the meet along the way who share their stories reflecting the difficulties of restrictive life and a thwarted existence. So what  starts as a family-centred road movie broadens out into a complex study of this Middle Eastern country and its hopes and aspirations in the occupied territories.

The trip will take them from a refugee camp in the West Bank, where Sami lives, to other Palestinian cities such as Bethlehem, the Old City of Jerusalem, and Haifa all atmospherically captured in Duraid Munajim’s limpid camerawork and set to a lilting score from Johanni Curtet.

Significantly the pigeon is carrying a ring bearing a small blue pearl, a keepsake from Sami’s grandma to help him through life. In some ways this pigeon comes to represent hope and the future, so finding it is vital to keep Sami’s dreams alive. Sometimes there’s a safety in hope: It can suspend us from to need to achieving anything but brings us closer to our each other in the process. And that’s surprising upshot of this tenderly crafted latest feature from the award-winning Palestinian filmmaker. @MeredithTaylor

THE CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | 13-23 NOVEMBER 2024