Latest news with #ZawyaCinema


Broadcast Pro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Zawya Cinema screens Yemeni film ‘The Burdened'
The film is based on true events that took place in Aden around 2019. Yemeni film, The Burdened, which served as Yemen's official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy Awards, is screening at Cairo's Zawya Cinema until July 29. Directed and co-written by Amr Gamal alongside Mazen Refaat, lensed by Mrinal Desai, edited by Heba Othman, and co-produced by Amjad Abu Alala, The Burdened boasts a stellar cast featuring Khaled Hamdan, Abeer Mohammed, Samah Alamrani, and Awsam Abdulrahman. The film is produced by Mohsen Alkhalifi and Amr Gamal at Adenium Productions, with co-production support from Amjad Abu Alala, Mohammed Alomda at Station Films, and the Red Sea International Film Festival. It also brings together Yemen, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia in a landmark co-production that was first brought to international attention at the 2022 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it earned the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award in the festival's industry sidebar, Eastern Promises. MAD Solutions is managing the film's distribution in the Arab world, while Films Boutique is managing its international sales. The narrative of The Burdened, based on true events in Aden circa 2019, unfolds the challenges faced by a married couple and their three children after both lose their jobs due to the economic crisis gripping the country. The story takes a poignant turn when the mother discovers she is expecting a fourth child, prompting the family to grapple with conservative societal norms as they attempt to secure an abortion, ultimately making tough decisions for survival. Following its world premiere at the Berlinale's Panorama Section, where it became the first Yemeni film officially selected at the German festival, The Burdened achieved acclaim by winning the Amnesty International Film Award and the second-place Audience Award. The film continued its success by screening at prestigious film festivals worldwide, securing accolades such as the Best Screenplay Award at Durban, the Best Directing and Best Screenplay Jury Awards at Valencia, a Special Jury Award for Best Film at the Taipei Film Festival, and the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film embarked on a notable festival tour, participating in events like the Shanghai, Sydney, Beijing, Golden Apricot Yerevan, Cairo, Zurich, War On Screen, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Rio de Janeiro, and Bergen film festivals, in addition to competing at the Septimius Awards. Amr Gamal, an independent Yemeni film and theatre director born in Poland in 1983, spearheads this cinematic venture.


Broadcast Pro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Tunisian mystery thriller film ‘Agora' to screen at Zawya Cinema
Slim's third feature fiction, the film focuses on a remote town in Tunisia where missing people return after many years. Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim's latest feature, Agora, is set to screen at Cairo's Zawya Cinema with English subtitles, offering audiences a suspense-filled experience that blends mystery with social reflection. The screenings are scheduled for Thursday, July 24, at 4:30 pm, Saturday, July 26, at 7:00 pm, and Tuesday, July 29, at 7:00 pm. A French-Tunisian co-production, Agora is backed by the Red Sea Fund and produced by Julie Viez's Cinenovo in collaboration with Slim's Exit Productions. The film secured 80% of its $743,000 budget, underscoring strong international interest in the project. Agora explores a mysterious phenomenon in a remote Tunisian town where people who had gone missing for years suddenly return. These returnees stir tensions among families and the wider community, prompting local police inspector Fathi and his doctor friend Amine to investigate. The situation becomes increasingly strange and complex, particularly with the arrival of Omar, a police inspector from the capital, who attempts to unravel the mystery. Slim describes Agora as a reflection on the past, resurfacing painful memories and societal failures. The film delves into themes of family and community conflict, and the tension between urban life and nature. Slim emphasises the symbolic significance of the city's public square, where key decisions about the returnees are made. The film also features a visual narrative with special effects and makeup, blending elements of a thriller and investigative story. Slim, who also produced the film, sees Agora as a continuation of his previous works, exploring recurring motifs such as the city, the forest and animals. The film addresses contemporary issues such as economic, social, health and security challenges, mirroring the complex realities of today's Tunisia.


CairoScene
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
This Loft Hotel Puts You at the Heart of Cairo's Indie Arts Scene
This Loft Hotel Puts You at the Heart of Cairo's Indie Arts Scene With Zawya Cinema downstairs, rooftops in every direction, and Talaat Harb down the block, Hazel keeps you in the middle of Cairo's constant motion. Hazel Spaces sits above Cairo's Emad El-Deen Street, a short walk from the iconic Talaat Harb Square and a few blocks from the Egyptian Museum. The building—an old stone structure with pressed iron balconies and French windows—blends into the layered streetscape of Downtown Cairo. The hotel occupies the upper floors, its units split across two levels, with beds on a mezzanine and seating areas below. Each room has its own small balcony facing the street, where the sounds of the city drift in from below but never quite overwhelm. What makes Hazel Spaces unusual is less about the interiors—pared down, calm, straightforward—than where it puts you. From here, nearly everything in central Cairo fans out within walking distance. South along Emad El-Deen Street, one reaches the Opera Garage complex, where art galleries, coffee bars, and workshops have taken over the skeleton of a mid-century parking structure. West, along Sherif Street, lies Café Riche, the city's oldest surviving café, still dimly lit and holding onto its own version of Cairo's past. Around the corner, antique dealers and secondhand bookstores line the ground floors of old department stores, most of them unchanged in decades. The hotel sits directly above Zawya Cinema, one of Egypt's few independent art-house venues. Guests descending the narrow stairwell into the lobby are met not by concierge desks, but by black-and-white posters of films that have shown below—some international, some local, many hard to find elsewhere. Further up, Hazel's rooftop terrace opens toward the Greek consulate, a view framed by early 20th-century buildings in soft pastels and ochre, their facades weathered but intact. Hazel doesn't function like a full-service hotel. There's no restaurant, no breakfast bar, and no reception in the usual sense. What it does provide is a kind of minimal base camp—spare and quiet—for exploring one of Cairo's most lived-in districts. Nearby food stalls serve fried liver sandwiches and sugar-dusted feteer until the early morning. Five minutes away on foot, Mohamed Bassiouny Street leads toward Falaki Theatre and Townhouse Gallery, two mainstays of the independent arts scene. Walk north instead, and you hit Ramses Street, Cairo's loudest transit artery, where minibus drivers lean out the window and shout their routes over traffic. Hazel Spaces keeps a low profile, but its location places it at the centre of things: art spaces, bookstores, street food, film, music, and the long, winding legacy of Khedival Cairo. It's a quiet room in the middle of something much louder—and for many, that's the appeal.


Broadcast Pro
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Zawya Cinema to release Palestinian film ‘To A Land Unknown' on July 16
Writer-director Mahdi Fleifel's second feature follows two immigrants in Athens as they struggle by any means necessary to escape their circumstances. Zawya Cinema has announced the upcoming release of To A Land Unknown, a Palestinian film by director Mahdi Fleifel, on July 16 as part of the eighth edition of Cairo Cinema Days. The screening marks the film's arrival in Egypt after a wide theatrical rollout across the Arab world, including in Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, the UAE, Palestine and Jordan. The 2024 drama made its world premiere at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival, where it was featured in the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) section. Since then, the film has travelled an extensive international festival circuit, screening at over 100 events and collecting more than 20 awards, with over 40 theatrical releases globally. To A Land Unknown is directed and co-written by Mahdi Fleifel, alongside writers Fyzal Boulifa and Jason McColgan. The film stars Mahmood Bakri and Aram Sabbah as Chatila and Reda, two Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens after fleeing a refugee camp in Lebanon. Desperate to reach Germany, they struggle to survive on the fringes of society, scraping together money to purchase fake passports. But their fragile plan begins to unravel when Reda, burdened by guilt and disillusionment, squanders their savings on heroin. Left with nothing, Chatila becomes entangled in a dangerous smuggling scheme as they try to escape their dead-end existence. Blending documentary realism with dramatic storytelling, Fleifel's film delivers an emotionally charged portrait of refugee life in Europe, marked by vulnerability, resistance and the desperate pursuit of hope. The arrival of Malek, a young boy whose aunt promises to send money to bring him to Italy, provides a brief glimmer of optimism for the two men, but their future remains uncertain. The film is a European co-production involving several companies and institutions, including Inside Out Films (UK), Nakba Filmworks, Salaud Morisset (France and Germany), Homemade Films (Greece) and Studio Ruba (Netherlands). Additional support came from ERT, Metafora Production and the Red Sea Production Fund in Saudi Arabia. Distribution across the Arab region is handled by Film Clinic Indie Distribution. With To A Land Unknown, Mahdi Fleifel delivers a raw, humane, and timely story about exile, brotherhood and survival, firmly establishing the film as a standout in contemporary Arab and European cinema.


CairoScene
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Award-Winning ‘East of Noon' to Premiere in Egypt at Zawya Cinema
Following its Cannes debut and international festival run, 'East of Noon' by Hala Elkoussy will screen in Egypt for the first time at Zawya Cinema starting June 25th. Jun 20, 2025 Hala Elkoussy's award-winning debut feature 'East of Noon' will make its Egyptian premiere at Zawya Cinema on June 25th. The opening night will include a Q&A session with Elkoussy following the 7 PM screening, marking the film's first local showing since its international festival debut. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight, where it won the Société des Auteurs award, and was later selected for the Berlin International Film Festival. 'East of Noon' has since earned multiple accolades for its striking visual language and layered, allegorical narrative. Set in a timeless fictional world, the film follows 19-year-old Abdo, a gifted musician challenging an inert system governed by the ageing showman Shawky and the enigmatic storyteller Jalala. Through its symbolic framework, 'East of Noon' reflects on themes of power, resistance, and the role of creative expression under oppressive systems.