In the Last Days of the City, a film by Egyptian director Tamer El-Said, added on Monday three more awards to its extensive list of international recognition. The film scooped the Grand Prix and the Jury of Youth Best film Award at the Festival des 3 Continents in France, and also garnered the Best Narrative Feature Award at the Arab Film Festival in San Francisco. The film's crew said on their Facebook page "the film's journey doesn't end here, and its most important stop is its Egyptian premiere and release."
The Festival des 3 Continents was founded in 1979, and is an annual showcase of movies from Africa, South America, and Asia. The festival has previously welcomed prominent directors from all three regions, including Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, Malian director Souleyman Cisse, and Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke. As for the Arab Film Festival, it was founded in 1996 and is today the largest independent annual showcase of Arab films and filmmakers in the United States. The festival has an international standing and is celebrated as one of the most important Arab film festivals outside the Arab world. Directed by Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El-Said, In the Last Days of the City sees his alter-ego, actor Khalid Abdalla, star as a Cairo-based filmmaker strugging to make a film about the city, which is in a state of uproar. Also starring Laila Samy and Hanan Youssef, the shooting of the film began in 2008, taking the filmmakers to Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Baghdad and Berlin and bringing together many talents from the Arab world. Tamer El-Said pictured holding The Grand prix and The Jury of Youth Best film Award at the Festival des 3 Continents (Photo: Courtesy of the film's official Facebook page) The film premiered at the Berlinale, where it received the Caligari award, and later won the Grand Prix at the Polish MFF T-Mobile Nowe Horyzonty Film Festival in Wroclaw. Co-produced by Zero Production, the film was written by El-Said and Rasha Salti. The film's art director is late artist Salah Marei. A graduate in film directing from the High Institute of Cinema, El-Said is an Egyptian filmmaker, writer and producer who lives and works in 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
