Ayten Amin: Souad (Egypt)

Update: FESPACO 2021

Feature film in competition

Long métrage en compétition

Ayten Amin

Souad

Egypt | Égypte 

2020 - Fiction - 1h30

Synopsis

Nineteen year-old Souad and her younger sister Rabab, live in the town of Zagazig with their conservative family. A series of small incidents pushes Souad to commit suicide. The family is swallowed in silence. Rabab dismisses all explanations for her Souad's death and is determined to find out the real cause of her sister's despair. She discovers that Ahmed is the central figure in Souad's virtual life. In search of answers, Rabab goes to Alexandria to see Ahmed.

Souad, une fille de 19 ans, vit avec sa famille conservatrice dans la ville de Zagazig, avec sa petite sœur Rabab. Une série de petits incidents ont poussé Souad à se suicider. Le silence avale tout dans la famille. Rabab jette toutes les explications de la mort de sa sœur et est déterminée à comprendre la véritable cause du désespoir de sa sœur. Elle découvre qu'Ahmed est la figure centrale de la vie virtuelle de Souad. Rabab voyage pour voir Ahmed à Alexandrie, à la recherche de réponses.

Description

The film is part of the Cannes 2020 Official Selection which presents it as follows: For this moving portrait of  young Egyptian women, the fluid camera stays close to their faces. Ayten Amin weaves a precious world, which mixes local traditions and universal hopes. Young girls dream, they want to seduce, to be loved, to wear makeup, to be awakened. In the beautiful Alexandra, the sound is that of life, the noise of the city and the silences of the heroine.

Souad is a film produced by the company Vivid Reels, in co-production with Nomadis Images (Dora Bouchoucha, Tunisia). 

A native of Alexandria, Ayten Amin rose to prominence after the Egyptian revolution with the documentary "Tahrir 2011".

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Le film fait partie de la Sélection Officielle Cannes 2020 qui le présente ainsi : Caméra fluide et proche des visages pour ce portrait émouvant de jeunes égyptiennes. Ayten Amin tisse un monde précieux, qui mêle traditions locales et espérances universelles. Les jeunes filles rêvent, elles veulent séduire, être aimées, se maquiller, s'éveiller. Dans Alexandrie la belle, le son est celui de la vie, des bruits de la ville et des silences de l'héroïne.

Souad est un film produit par la société Vivid Reels, en coproduction avec Nomadis Images (Dora Bouchoucha, Tunisie). 

Native d’Alexandrie, Ayten Amin s’était fait connaître après la révolution égyptienne avec le documentaire « Tahrir 2011 ».

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73ème festival de Cannes 2020

Sélection officielle | Official Selection - LES NOUVELLES ET NOUVEAUX VENU(E)S 

A Glance at Cannes: Short Film Corner

A GLANCE AT CANNES: SHORT FILM CORNER

Organized by the Cannes Festival, the Short Film Corner is the essential rendez-vous for filmmakers. Since its inception in 2004 it has been a meeting place for producers and directors to present their films, network, and discuss strategies regarding their future plans. At the 64th edition, several films by African women are screened in this important venue.

Ayten Amin (Egypt)

Spring 89 (25 mn) Camelia and Sarah in the last spring of the eighties…Their last days of innocence, a story told twice by 2 different girls or rather 2 similar girls.

Chika Anadu (Nigeria)

Ava (9 mn)  A woman, a few hours away from her wedding, is pondering on her relationship with her husband to-be.

Epilogue (6 mn) A couple reach the last chapter of their troubled relationship history.

Nadège Batou (Congo)

Dissuasion (8 mn) These girls don't leave any chance to boys with bad intentions.

Inès Ben Othman (Tunisia)

D'amour et d'eau fraîche (7 mn) A couple escapes its financial problems  and decides to live by love and fresh water.

Annette Kouamba Matondo (Congo)

We don't forget, we forgive (26 mn)  By portraying Sylvie Diclos Pomos, a Congolese artist who is an actor, a director and also a writer, the film director questions the issue of writing. Writing  to remember a reality that may be cruel. These issues all relate to the "Beach case" that had extensive press coverage in Congo.




Shana Mongwanga (Congo)

A Common Cause - From London to Bukavu (16 mn) A film by Congolese-British Women about their journey to express express concrete solidarity with Women in Congo, during the World March of Women in October 2010. Follow their journey and hear their voices.

Elisabeth Bello Oseini (Cote d'Ivoire)

Un père indigne (34 mn) Ahou goes in search of the father she has never known. Sadly, he refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. Down and out many years later, this unworthy father looks for Ahou, the daughter that he had disowned.

Rania Tazi (Morocco)

Open Sesame (21 mn) Locked behind an apartment door, a young Moroccan named Leina is held captive by her oppressive husband. When imprisonment becomes too much to bear, Leina attempts an escape with the help of a sympathetic neighbor.

A Glance at Cannes: Cinémas du Monde Pavillon/Cinemas of the World Pavilion - Egyptian Ayten Amin

The Cinémas du Monde Pavillon (The Cinemas of the World Pavilion) created in 2009, is a meeting place within the Cannes Festival for emerging filmmakers to exchange ideas and dialogue within a social and amicable environment.

According to Cannes Festival President Gilles Jacob:

"This initiative is an extension of the objectives of the Festival: to support and assist film creation at its source, well in advance of the selection process. It is thus quite naturally in keeping with our objectives by championing the ideas of the cinema that we cherish. Films move geographical frontiers and mental barriers and constantly reshape a world which is developing faster than we are."

Ayten Amin (Cinémas du Monde)

Egyptian Ayten Amin is among the delegation of twelve directors from India, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe invited to the Cinémas du Monde Pavillon to exchange ideas and dialogue with her colleagues in cinema. Studying filmmaking independently, she made her first short fiction film Her Man in 2006, and also directed several publicity films. Her next film, Spring89 was released in 2009 receiving many national awards. Her current project, "69 Messah Square", is a feature film co-written with Muhammed El Hajj and received the award for the project at the Cairo Film Connection in December 2010.