TRAILERS: Egyptian films at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2013 Abu Dhabi Film Festival line-up to include six Egyptian films of different lengths, genres, and themes
From 24 October until 2 November, the seventh-annual Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) will present a diverse line-up of film screenings, including six films from Egypt. As part of its 'Narrative Competition,' the ADFF, formerly known as the Middle East International Film Festival, will present Ahmad Abdalla's Farsh wa Ghata (Rags and Tatters). Farsh wa Ghata has already screened to positive reviews at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and competed in this year's London Film Festival. The film features a solitary fugitive who escapes Cairo in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution, seeking shelter on the outskirts of the rapidly transforming city. Director Ayten Amin's Villa 69 will show at the festival's 'New Horizons' screenings. The film, a joint production with the United Arab Emirates, explores themes of intimacy and illness through the life of its protagonist, Hussein (Khaled Abou El-Naga). Hussein leads a lonely life with which he is content until his past catches up with him after his sister and nephew come to visit. Villa 69 is expected to hit cinemas across Egypt in February 2014. Cairo Drive, a 77-minute documentary by filmmaker Sherif El-Katsha, makes its world premiere in ADFF's 'Documentary Competition.' The film is an ambitious attempt to grasp at the collective identity that led to the 2011 events, changing Egypt's modern history. Cairo Drive presents its story via the phenomenally overcrowded streets of Cairo, a bustling city of 20 million residents and 14 million vehicles. Participating in the 'Short Film Competition' is Though I know the River is Dry, directed by Omar Robert Hamilton and Louis Lewarne. The film portrays the predicament of a man caught between past and present and trying to protect his family from impending catastrophe. The film's production and post-production budgets were raised in two online crowd-funding campaigns. It made its debut at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it won the Prix UIP and a nomination for best short film at the European Film Awards. Also screening in this year's ADFF are two Egyptian contemporary classics: Daoud Abdel Sayed's Al Saalik (The Vagabonds, 1985), considered by many to be the film that established Abdel Sayed as a household name in Egyptian cinema, and Radwan El-Kashef's Araq Al Balah (Date Wine, 1999), the haunting story of an Egyptian village and the turmoil of its people. Both filmsare part of the 'Special Programmes' selection. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/84533.aspx
