Goodbye Julia is a Sudanese film that explores class, ethnic, and religious unrest in pre-secession Sudan in 2011, which sadly mirrors relevant to the heart-breaking events in Sudan today. The film begins in 2005 and focuses on the nation’s capital, Khartoum. The director and writer Mohamed Kordofani explores political themes with sympathy, righteousness, and humility by framing it through female friendship. Even through all the divides, Mona and Julia form a bond, and it transcends the screen touching the audience’s hearts. The captivating film is expected to make its debut in Egyptian cinema ..read more

The body positivity movement has been nothing short of fierce these past few years. And it has not stopped at cinema. Here are 6 TV shows and movies that scream body positivity for your warm nights in.  My Mad Fat Diary Director: Tim Kirkby My Mad Fat Diary is a British TV show that follows Rae, a teenager who’s spent four months in a psychiatric hospital after an attempted suicide. She leaves the hospital and reconnects with her friend group. We find out that none of them know about her body-image problems or her hospital stay.  My Mad Fat Diary does a shamelessly spectacular ..read more

Batool AlDaawi has always loved art, ever since she was a little girl she wanted to try out different art mediums and approaches, and she did. Batool AlDaawi ‘s work is a testament to her love for everything creative and new. Starting from her work on series like “Al Meshwar” with director Mohamed Yassin to her work in photography and painting. Batool AlDaawi always has something to say, something as authentic and real as the art she brings to the world.  We sat down with Batool AlDaawi to know the full story behind her journey as a visual artist!    View this post on Instagra ..read more

She is a punk-loving, rebellious teenager; one who does not fit into the cultural dichotomy of growing up in pre and post-revolution Iran. She is Persepolis’s young Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis is an animated movie based on Satrapi’s award-winning graphic novel, that walks her eager audience through her coming of age years during the Iranian Revolution, and the country’s changing political environment. Fearing they could not assimilate young Satrapi into Iran’s new regime, due to her outspoken and opinionated nature, her parents sent her to Vienna for her safety. This funny-bone chilling and ec ..read more

“Tuktuk” was selected and is nominated for the Best Short Narrative award at the Pan-African Film Festival. Additionally, Lead actress Elham Wagdi won best actress at the Vienna International Film Awards. The film premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. It was also selected to compete in the Malmo Arab Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Festival international de cinéma Vues d’Afrique, and the Bahrain Film Festival. About Tuktuk Tuktuk tells the story of Walaa, a mother and a wife who’s forced to solely take on the responsibilit ..read more

The Shadow of Cairo —when we first saw the name of the film we expected a dramatic film that depicts the dark side of our city. However, when we actually watched Tara Shehata’s short feature we were surprised to see it tells quite a different story. The director herself describes it here: “The Shadow of Cairo is about a young girl, Maya, who blames Egypt’s societal problems, such as sexism, for her mother’s death. So, she tries to be superhero to avenge her and fight against injustice. It is a tale of reality versus fiction – can Maya’s whimsical belief that she can truly fight make a differe ..read more

Exploring motherhood through the art of filmmaking, Marianne Khoury takes us on a very special journey.  “Let’s Talk” is a documentary directed by Marianne Khoury about her late mother.  Te film can be described as a feature film of a deep and profound plot made out of documentary material. Te film examines Marianne’s relationship with her mother, daughter, and grandmother by asking bold and daring questions. When we interviewed her, we had a million questions about every single detail in the film, but we tried to curb our enthusiasm. Here is how it went down.  Someone has to di ..read more

Last September was the world premiere of the movie “When We’re Born” at Gouna Film Festi­val, and it was attended by many stars along with the cast and crew. The film’s impressive cast includes Amr Abed, Amir Eid, Malak Has­san, Ibtihal El Serety, Sameh El Serety, Passant Shawky, Mo­hamed Hatem, Dana Hamadan, and Hanan Soliman. It was writ­ten by the late screenwriter Na­dine Shams and directed by Tam­er Ezzat. The plot follows three non-linear storylines of three different young characters: Amin, Farah, and Ahmed. All three are young people, probably in their late twenties or early thirties ..read more

The suicide bomber narrative has intrigued many filmmakers. We first saw it with Hany Abu-Assad’s masterpiece “Paradise Now”, where he gave a human face to the terrorist without asking the audience to sympathize with him. Iraqi-Dutch director Mohamed Al-Daradji has walked in Abu-Assad’s footsteps, with Sara’s (Zahraa Gandour) compelling and emotional story in his latest film “The Journey”. The film follows the story of Sara, a suicide bomber with a mission to “purify” Baghdad via explosives wrapped around her. She plans to set them off in Baghdad’s newly reopened train station, packed with mil ..read more

Fear has been, and still is, the key tool used against women as a form of oppression, especially in rape or sexual harassment cases. They always blame it on what she is wearing, or staying out late or even putting on a lot of makeup –she’s always the culprit; never the victim. Living in a male-dominated world, women are considered a minority and often looked down upon –and that’s what Kaouther Ben Hania was trying to address in her film “Beauty and the Dogs”. The story follows Mariam, played by Mariam Al Ferjani, a young student who was raped by policemen after a university party. What started ..read more