arab filmweek - fiction and documentary films of the Arab world

Ein Shams
Director: Ibrahim El-Batout
Egypt 2008 feature film 90 min
 
Under the pharaohs’ rule once Egypt’s capital, since Jesus’ and Virgin Mary’s visit a sanctuary, today Ein Shams is one of the most miserable and run-down areas of Cairo. Ein Shams is also the name of a young girl, one of the many characters in this movie. Through her eyes, the movie catches the sadness and magic of Egyptian everyday life. Frequently, she escapes into imaginary worlds, but what she desires most is to leave the constraints of her district behind and get into the centre of Cairo – into downtown. Another world just a mere few kilometres away – but out of reach for her. In a clutch of heart-rending occasions the miscellaneous characters show the intricacies of Egypt’s political system and its social structure. This movie provides an impression of the grievances in the Near and Middle East and of the complex relationships between its nations.
 
Ibrahim El Batout (1963 Port Said/ Egypt) after his Studies of Engineering at the American University of Cairo he started to work as a technician at the TV-station Video Cairo. Later on he started to make his mark with documentaries. In 2003, he was awarded with the Rory Peck Sony International Impact Award for his documentary on mass graves in Iraq.