Zamalek's Elbet Alwan will screen Ard El-Khof (Land of Fear, 1999) by Egyptian renowned director Dawood Abdel-Sayed on 10 August. The film, which is also written by Abdel-Sayed, stars Ahmed Zaki, Sami El-Adl, Farah, Ezzat Abo Ouf and Hamdy Gheith. The story follows a police officer assigned to a secret mission of infiltrating a drug dealers' community. With time he forgets his mission, and lives as a drug dealer. The film sheds light on notions of good, evil and power. Land of Fear is one of Abdel-Sayed's most popular films, with it winning the best script award and best Arabic film in the 23rd Cairo International Film Festival. Abdel-Sayed is one of Egypt's most accomplished directors and has to date directed 12 films, many of them award-winning. In 2013, three of his films were chosen among the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)'s list of the 100 Most Important Arab Films: El-Kit Kat (1991), Land of Fear (1999) and Messages from the Sea (2010). Abdel-Sayed is credited for pioneering "new realism," a school of thought in Egyptian cinema that introduced action to the melodramatic movement of the 1960-70s. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Egypt in 1967 and went on to work as an assistant director on the set of The Land (Al-Ard) by the legendary Youssef Chahine. Abdel Sayed went on to become a member of the Higher Film Festival Commission and the Higher Council of Culture in Egypt. He has also joined film festivals as a jury, most notably the 8th Biennale of Arab Cinemas in Paris (Institut du Monde Arabe). Programme: Wednesday 10 August, 8pm Elbet Alwan, 5 Ahmed Heshmat Street, Zamalek, Cairo For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
