Events Update

Apologies for the delay but here is a quick update for the day.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

NVIC Shorts 1 at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Zamalek at 7:00 PM

Irtigaal (Improvisation) – Bekara (Hymen) – El Central (Telephone Station) – Ahmar Bahet (Pale Red)

NVIC Shorts is a series of short film screenings in which an Egyptian director shows his/her work and that of fellow filmmakers. During the first NVIC Shorts, director and screenwriter Yasser Naeim shows his documentary ‘Improvisation’ and invites fellow makers Hisham Saqr and Mohamed Hammad to screen their short movies ‘Hymen’, ‘Telephone Station’ and ‘Pale Red’.


Irtigaal (Improvisation) – Yasser Naeim – 2010
Yasser Naeim followed director Ibrahim El Batout after he finished his movie ‘Ein Shams’. Batout’s second long fiction film was shot in very improvisational circumstances without professional equipment nor a large budget or shooting permits. Through the lens of the creative process of ‘Ein Shams’, ‘Improvisation’ gives a very interesting insight in the independent digital film industry in Egypt as a whole.

Yasser Naeim (° 1977) works in cinema since 2003 as a producer, director and script writer. He is currently working on his first feature film in collaboration with Youssef Chahine’s ‘Misr International Films’.
Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
Duration: 30 minutes


Bekara (Hymen) – Hisham Saqr – 2010
When a brother and sister, two Egyptian young adults experience sex outside the boundaries of society's acceptance and approval, they have to confront their personal beliefs and social value system. They find themselves caught up in a web of multiple standards, lies and hypocrisy. The ultimate test for morality is an easily replaceable piece of flesh but no one seems to admit that.

Hisham Saqr (°1980) worked as an editor in ‘Microphone’(2010). ‘Bekara’ is his first short film, he wrote, directed and edited himself.
Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
Duration: 10 minutes


El Central (Telephone Station) – Mohamed Hammad - 2006
‘El Central’ is a film about a woman who works at a call center and eavesdrops on the people who make their calls from there. She’s the only one, who knows all their dirty secrets.

Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
Duration: 18 minutes

Ahmar Bahet (Pale Red) – Mohamed Hammad - 2009
‘Amar Bahet’ tells the story of Shaima, a teenager who lives with her grandmother. The two women have nothing in common. One day Shaima faces an embarrassing situation that makes her become aware of her womanhood.

Mohamed Hammad (°1981) graduated in literature from Helwan University. He is an independent screenwriter and filmmaker with a main thematic interest in the life of the Egyptian female. He made several documentaries and short films and won international awards with his short film ‘Ahmar Bahet’. He is currently working on his first full-length feature film.
Language: Arabic (English subtitles)
Duration: 14 minutes

LA MEGLIO GIOVENTÙ (THE BEST OF YOUTH) at the Italian Institute of Culture, 6:00 PM (rerun at 8:00 PM)
An Italian epic that follows the lives of two brothers, from the 1960s to the 2000s.

Director:
Marco Tullio Giordana
Writers:
Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
Stars:
Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni and Jasmine Trinca