The award-winning Egyptian film In the Last Days of the City will screen in German cinemas starting 7 September, the filmmakers announced on their Facebook page. 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 struggling 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. The film premiered at the 46th Berlinale in 2016, where it received the Caligari award, and later won many awards including the award for best film at the Arab Critics Awards' ceremony, the Grand Prix at the Polish MFF T-Mobile Nowe Horyzonty Film Festival in Wroclaw, the Grand Prix and the Jury of Youth Best film Award at the Festival des 3 Continents in France, as well as the Best Narrative Feature Award at the Arab Film Festival in San Francisco. It has also been screened several times internationally, including at New York's New Directors/New Films festival, despite not being screened in its hometown Cairo. The film has not been screened at home. Cairo's Zawya Distribution could not screen the film in its theatres after failing to secure a permit from the Censorship Authority. 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. Director El-Said is also a writer and producer who graduated in film directing from the High Institute of Cinema. He 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
