Doha Film Institute
  • Log in
A prisoner is released on a mission to retrieve a set of documents. A man roams the city streets towing his sickly horse behind him. A group of songwriters gathers to compose. In this portrait of modern Alexandria, themes of human loss and displacement take center stage in place of a clearly defined story arc.
Shot in Alexandria using non-professional actors and an unpaid crew, Ibrahim El Batout's third feature continues the Egyptian filmmaker's obsession in contemplating the details of daily Egyptian life. Inspired by the alternative cinema of Goddard, Vertov and Kiarostami, the story follows the journey of Youssef, a prisoner released after five years of solitary confinement in order to fetch a sheath of important documents, with a number of seemingly unconnected subplots, concerning a group of aspiring songwriters, a satellite TV executive searching for a show host, an elderly juggler leading his sickly old horse though the city streets, and so on. As a result, what might have been a straight-ahead story with predictable scenes, becomes an organic study of a city populated by disparate, often desperate, characters, a closer view of so-called reality and the lives of everyday people.

Credits

Director
Ibrahim El Batout
Screenwriter
Ibrahim El Batout
Producer
Ibrahim El Batout
Editor
Perry Mo'ataz
Production Designer
Emad Mabrouk
Composer
Massar Egbary Band
DO NOT USE - Director of Photography
Ibrahim El Batout

About the Director

Ibrahim El Batout
Ibrahim El Batout was born in Port-Said, Egypt and graduated from the American University in Cairo, majoring in physics. Since 1987, he has worked as a director, producer and cameraman, debuting as a feature film director with ‘Ithaki’ (2005). His second film, ‘Eye of the Sun’ (2008), won the Golden Bull at the Taormina Film Festival.
Contacts