“Final Cut in Venice” workshop features Egyptian film

CAIRO – 7 August 2017: The fifth edition of the Italian film workshop “Final Cut in Venice” will feature an Egyptian film, alongside other movies by Arabian directors.

Running from September 3-5, the workshop exists for the express goal of finishing up movies in post-production from Africa, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, helping to give young global filmmakers a head start.

Egypt's contribution titled “Dream Away” is jointly directed by Egyptian Marouan Omara and German Johanna Domke; it is an Egypt/Qatar/German production. The film is a documentary drama about Sharm el-Sheikh, exploring how the employees of a hotel at a resort are dealing with the aftermath of the terror attacks and the complex lives they lead, pulled in opposing directions by family and the Western lifestyle.

Other films include Naziha Arebi's “Freedom Films,” a documentary about a group of Libyan women who wish to become Libya's first female football team; Moroccan director Leila Kilani's “Joint Possession” about a family struggling with the encroachment of real-estate developers on their land and the fate of their old manor; and Sudanese director Hajooj Kuka's film “A Kasha” that follows a Sudanese war hero as he attempts to reunite with his girlfriend.

The rewards for the workshop will come at its conclusion with $5,000 being awarded to the best film in post-production; the El Gouna Film Festival will award one of the Arab films with $5,000.