Last days: Arab talent at Berlinale - Culture - Al-Ahram Weekly

Al-Ahram Weekly

21-02-2025

One of the most significant film events in the world, this year the festival showcases the latest and most influential international cinema, with Arab and Egyptian filmmakers securing prominent spots both within the festival and alongside it across the city of Berlin.
In addition to an Egyptian talent selected in the Berlinale Talent for 2025, three Egyptian films are participating in the festival's competitions and programmes, while another film is featured in the Berlin Critics' Week which is not part of the Berlinale but runs alongside the festival in the German capital. The films include The Settlement, the debut feature-length fiction by Mohamed Rashad, competing in the newly established Berlinale Perspectives, a new €50,000 competitive section for international debut fiction features; The Tale of Daye's Family, a feature-length fiction directed by Karim El-Shenawy, competing in the Generation 14plus competition; and The Last Day, the debut short by Egyptian filmmaker Mahmoud Ibrahim, participating in the non-competitive Forum Expanded. Additionally, East of Noon by Hala Elkoussy is the opening film of the prestigious Berlin Critics' Week. Egyptian actor and dancer Fayza Shama, one of the lead actors in East of Noon, has been selected as a Berlinale Talent for 2025.
Perspectives evolved from the Best First Feature Award, presented in partnership with GWFF since 2006. It will feature the world premiere of Mohamed Rashad's The Settlement, written and directed by Rashad, with the film's main production led by Hassala Films, an independent production house founded by the renowned Egyptian director and producer Hala Lotfy.
Starring Adham Shoukry, Ziad Islam, Hajar Omar, Mohamed Abdel-Hady, and Emad Ghoneim, the film tells the story of 23-year-old Hossam, who takes a job at the factory where his father died, to support his family. His 12-year-old brother, Maro, joins him, leaving school behind. As Hossam navigates tensions with workers, including Mustafa, who is partially responsible for their father's death, another tragedy strikes, undoing his efforts to care for his family.
Mohamed Rashad's feature-length debut documentary Little Eagles (2016), premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival and won the Best Documentary Award at the Malmo Festival.
The Berlinale's Generation 14plus competition is dedicated to films that offer young audiences a chance to explore the world from their own perspective, creating a space for connection and shared experiences. This year's section features 34 films, including The Tale of Daye's Family, directed by Egyptian filmmaker Karim El-Shenawy, written by Haitham Dabbour, and starring Egyptian pop star Mohamed Mounir, alongside Badr Mohamed, Haneen Saeed, Aseel Omran (Saudi Arabia), and Islam Mobarak (Sudan).
Daye tells the story of a 14-year-old Nubian albino with a golden voice who dreams of becoming a singer like Mohamed Mounir. Despite facing bullying and discrimination, Daye and his family journey from Aswan to Cairo for an audition on The Voice, overcoming theft, police evasion, and adversity along the way. The film highlights resilience, hope, and the transformative power of family and music, with unexpected support from Mounir himself.
Karim El-Shenawy began his career with his debut film Gunshot (2018) and has since directed several series. Daye is produced by Blueprint Productions, a company he co-founded.
The Forum Expanded section of the Berlinale showcases experimental films, artists' moving images, and expanded cinematic forms. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the section presents 24 works, including retrospectives. Among them is the world premiere of The Last Day, the debut short film by Egyptian filmmaker Mahmoud Ibrahim.
The Last Day is a five-minute film about brothers Ziad and Moody spending their final moments in their family home, which is set to be demolished for city development. As they move furniture outside, Moody turns on the TV, where news of Palestinian home demolitions in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, adds a sombre layer to their already melancholic day.
Mahmoud Ibrahim, a 2023 graduate of the Higher Institute of Cinema in Alexandria, is from Kafr Al-Dawar. He co-founded HandyCam Films, an independent production company dedicated to developing alternative production methods and exploring new artistic spaces.
The prestigious Berlin Critics' Week features 17 films, including East of Noon, written and directed by Egyptian filmmaker Hala Elkoussy, which opened the event. The film, shot in black-and-white 16mm, is a satirical parable about a tyrant, Shawki, who controls his people through fear, sugar, and entertainment. His rule is challenged by his grandson Abdo and his friend Nunno, who rebel through music and fearlessness.
The film stars Fayza Shama, Menha El-Batraoui, Ahmed Kamal, and Omar Rozeik, with Abdelsalam Moussa as director of photography and producer, Ahmad Elsawy as composer, and Abdalrahman Mahmoud as sound designer.
Hala Elkoussy's debut feature, Cactus Flower, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and East of Noon premiered at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight.
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The presence of Arab cinema at this year's Berlinale goes beyond Egyptian work, with eight films by Arab filmmakers featured across various programmes, including both recent work and retrospective screenings. Prominent Arab figures are also involved in jury roles and industry events.
Yunan stands out as the only Arab film in the Berlinale's International Competition, competing for the Golden and Silver Bears together with 19 films from 26 countries. Written, directed, and edited by Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin, Yunan stars Georges Khabbaz, Hanna Schygulla, Ali Suliman, Sibel Kekilli, and Tom Wlaschiha. The film follows Munir, who travels to a remote island to contemplate a drastic decision, encountering the mysterious Valeska and her son Karl, whose kindness helps ease his burden.
Fakher Eldin's debut feature, The Stranger, premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival, winning the Edipo Re Award. It became Palestine's official Oscar entry and won Best Arab Film and the Shadi Abdel-Salam Prize at the Cairo International Film Festival.
The Berlinale Panorama showcases contemporary cinema of artistic and social relevance. This year, two documentaries by Arab filmmakers are featured: Khartoum and Yalla Parkour.
Khartoum, co-directed by Sudanese filmmakers Ibrahim Snoopy, Ahmad Timeea, Rawia Alhag, Anas Saeed, and British director Philip Cox, captures the lives of five Khartoum residents under a military regime. As civil unrest escalates, they flee to East Africa, using animation and dream sequences to continue their story, offering a poignant portrait of their struggles.
Yalla Parkour, the debut feature by Palestinian director Areeb Zuaiter, follows her childhood memory of seeing the sea in Gaza. Years later, she reconnects with her past through parkour, befriending Ahmed and exploring Gaza's ruins. As their bond deepens, she confronts themes of identity, belonging, and the emotional legacy of her homeland.
Two additional Arab films are part of the Generation 14plus programme: Têtes brûlées and Beneath Which Rivers Flow.
Têtes brûlées, written and directed by Belgian-Tunisian-Danish filmmaker Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama, follows 12-year-old Eya, who grows up in a Tunisian-Muslim family in Brussels. After her brother Younès dies, Eya navigates grief with the help of her creativity, her brother's friends, and her faith, portraying a multicultural, united youth.
Beneath Which Rivers Flow, a short film by Iraqi filmmaker Ali Yahya, follows Ibrahim and his family living in isolation in southern Iraq's marshlands. When the land begins to crumble, Ibrahim must confront forces that threaten both his way of life and his buffalo.
In the Forum Expanded exhibition, J-N-N, a three-channel video installation by German-Iraqi artist Ginan Seidl, is being screened. The work, based on family conversations during a trip to Iraq and research into the jinn, explores a mystical side of Iraqi culture. The film takes viewers on a visual journey through Iraq, reflecting on a society shaped by war, civil conflict, and terrorism, while connecting personal experiences with historical events and the emotional void of those shared struggles.
In celebration of the Forum Expanded Anniversary, the programme features a few retrospectives, including Das Kino Projekt (2021), co-directed by Lebanese filmmaker Siska (Elie Habib) and German artist Franziska Pierwoss. This mobile cinema screens old amateur films on Super 8 and 16mm, alongside global video art. It moves between cities, adopting the name of a closed or transformed cinema, and displays neon signs created for each city visited. The project started in Beirut and was meant to continue all the way to Aleppo in 2011, but was halted by the Syrian Civil War. It was featured in the 2022 Forum Expanded exhibit.
Another film in the Forum Expanded Anniversary is Purple Sea (2020), a 67-minute experimental work co-written and co-directed by Syrian artists Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed. Made from footage filmed by Alzakout after the boat on which she was fleeing Syria sank off the coast of Lesbos, the film captures the moment when she and other passengers float in life jackets, awaiting rescue, with Alzakout's voice-over accompanying this poignant experience.
Although not made by Arab filmmakers, two Berlinale films explore Arab realities. One is No Beast So Fierce, directed by German filmmaker Burhan Qurbani and screened in the Berlinale Special non-competitive section. This reimagining of Shakespeare's Richard III tells the story of an Arab gangster queen, with a cast including renowned Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass and other actors of Arab descent.
The other is Al Basateen, a 3D animated short directed by French filmmaker Antoine Chapon, shown in the Forum Expanded section. It follows two former residents of Damascus' Basateen Al-Razi district, destroyed in 2015 following an anti-Assad uprising.
Through the Forum Expanded Anniversary collection, Shayne (2019) by Stephan Geene tells the autobiographical story of Ricky Shayne, a 1960s pop singer and actor of French-Lebanese descent born in Cairo. The film explores his brief fame in West Germany from 1967 to 1972, following his rise in Rome's Beat scene. Geene, fascinated by Shayne as a child, revisits his past, meeting the 72-year-old singer and his sons, who resemble him at his peak.
Two Arab film projects are featured at this year's Berlinale. One is Holiday, a feature by French-Lebanese filmmaker Wissam Charaf, which is part of the 22nd Berlinale Co-Production Market (Feb 15-19). The other, Sun Sees Everything, is a feature in development by Lebanese director Wissam Tanios and producer Christian Eid, and has been selected for the Berlinale Talent Project Market.
Two Arab filmmakers serve as jury members at this year's Berlinale. Moroccan director, screenwriter, and producer Nabil Ayouch, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is part of the International Competition jury, chaired by Todd Haynes. Academy Award-nominated Tunisian-American director Meryam Joobeur is on the jury for the new Perspectives competition.
One of the key talks at this year's Berlinale Talents is led by renowned Lebanese sound designer Rana Eid, whose childhood was shaped by the echoes of war. The session, titled 'Haunting Sounds and Deafening Silences,' is moderated by Rabih El-Khoury, head of programming at ALFILM, the Arab Film Festival of Berlin.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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