Directed by Omar El Zohairy
Egypt | 2022 | Fiction | 112 min | Arabic w/ subtitles
Film Source: Grasshopper Films
In this bleakly funny debut feature, Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy eviscerates the three-pronged stupidity of capitalism, patriarchy, and bureaucracy. An embattled wife and mother (Demyana Nassar) must fend for herself and her children when her husband (Samy Bassouny) disappears under bizarre and surreal circumstances. Poverty plagues her every turn, and El Zohairy focuses on the transactional nature undergirding each obstacle and opportunity she encounters. Despite the decrepitude of many of the objects in frame, El Zohairy exhibits a warm and delicate eye for composition and a sharpness to his visual storytelling that harkens back to the best of the silent era. ~TW