Ahmad Abdalla's "Decor" and Amir Ramses ' "Cairo Time" presented a strong Egyptian presence at the Arab Film Festival Amman that started on July 4 and ended Saturday with screenings of eight movies from seven Arab countries.
The festival's opening film "Decor," which was initially internationally screened at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2014, stars Khaled Abou El-Naga, Horreya Farghaly and Maged El-Kedwany. It is director Ahmad Abdalla's fifth feature film but the first one he hasn't written himself.
"Decor" is a unique psychological thriller that tells the story of a young successful and career-driven Egyptian film production designer named Maha, played by Farghaly, who is working on a commercial movie with her handsome husband Sherif, played by El-Naga, and suddenly finds herself transported to the alternate reality of the movie she's working on. In this reality, she finds herself working as an art teacher and married to a conservative husband whom she shares a young daughter with.
The film, called "a sophisticated reinvention of the classic 'women's picture'" by Variety, was shot completely in black and white. It offers thematic and aesthetic qualities that echo Egyptian cinema's golden age, that of the 1940s and 1950s, these aesthetic influences are made even clearer by the frequent appearances of photos and videos of Egyptian cinema icon Faten Hamama throughout the film.
"Cairo Time," which was screened at the 11th Dubai International Film Festival before it was released in Egyptian theaters, stars Nour El-Sharif, Mervat Amin and Samir Sabry. It is director Amir Ramses' much-anticipated return to fiction after working on documentaries for a few years.
The film tells three separate but interconnected stories of six characters over the course of one day's events. Yahia is an old man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease who feels compelled to leave Alexandria for Cairo to look for a woman he knows he loves but doesn't remember as he shares the ride to the capital with a young drug dealer named Hazem.
Yahia's story coincides and overlaps with a developing relationship story between Wael and Salma and the story of a retired actress named Layla who searches for her last costar Sameh to seek a divorce for an on-screen marriage. Like "Decor," the film is a form of social commentary with golden age influences as the film is dedicated in its opening credits to Egyptian screen icon Shadia whose songs are played throughout the film.
The Arab Film Festival Amman is organized annually in Amman by the Royal Film Commission Jordan under the patronage of Jordan's Culture Ministry. The festival seeks to not only screen movies but create an open space where filmmakers and actors can discuss their ideas and exchange opinions with the public through free of charge screenings.