Egyptian film ‘Aisha Can't Fly Away' wins FIPRESCI Award at Golden Apricot
Egyptian film Aisha Can't Fly Away, by Morad Mostafa, went home with the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award at the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia. The festival ran from July 13th to the 20th.
The Egyptian film Aisha Can't Fly Away, directed by Morad Mostafa, has claimed the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award at the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia, which took place from July 13 to 20. This marks another significant milestone for the film, which has been steadily gaining acclaim on the international festival circuit.
The film first made headlines with its world premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and had already made an impression by winning the Final Cut Award and several post-production prizes at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.
The film is a multi-national co-production with backing from Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Sudan. It has attracted major international support, including grants from the Doha Film Institute, Cultural Resource Fund, El Gouna Film Festival, Locarno Academy, Cannes' Cinéfondation, La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. Aisha Can't Fly Away has already made waves on the festival circuit, taking home top honours at the Red Sea Lodge and multiple awards at Venice's Final Cut, as well as the Atlas Award at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
Returning collaborators from Mostafa's short I Promise You Paradise are central to the project, including cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef (The Village Next to Paradise), production designer Eman Elelaby (Feathers), costume designer Nayera Eldahshoury, sound engineer Mostafa Shaban and editor Mohamed Mamdouh.
The ensemble cast is led by Buliana Simon as Aisha, with Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza making his feature film debut, alongside Emad Ghoniem and Mamdouh Saleh.
The production is spearheaded by Sawsan Youssef (Bonanza Films), alongside an international team including Tunisia's Dora Bouchoucha and Lina Shaban (Nomadis Images), Amjad Abu Alala, Faisal Baltayour (Cinewaves), Ahmed Amer (A.A. Films), May Odeh and Zorana Musikic (Mayana Films), Laura Nikolov (Co-Origins), Sherif Fathy (Shift Studios) and Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab of MAD Solutions — whose subsidiary MAD World is handling global sales.
Born in Cairo in 1988, Morad Mostafa brings over a decade of industry experience as an assistant director.
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