Live “gypsy jazz” music, dramatic film night at 3elbt Alwan

CAIRO – 26 December 2017: The GypsyJazz Project is scheduled to perform at 3elbt Alwan on Friday. The performance is one of two shows that will be presented at the venue. The second segment of the night is a film screening of the 2014 film “Atlantic”.

The film screening will take place twice at the venue, with the live performance scheduled for a time between the two screenings. “Atlantic” is directed by Dutch filmmaker Jan-Willem van Ewijk. The film revolves around the story of a Moroccan fisherman named “Fetteh”, who becomes a water-skier and embarks on an unexpected journey.

Fetteh is introduced to the Dutch tourists who visit his small town in Morocco to water-ski and he soon becomes a skilled water-skier himself. He falls in love with a Dutch tourist and suddenly decides to leave his whole life behind and sail across the Atlantic Ocean. It is a film that tells of the passion of the “ocean inside you”, according to the event’s official Facebook page.

“Atlantic” stars Fettah Lamara as “Fettah”, Thekla Reuten as “Alexandra”, and Mohamed Majd as “Hakim”. The film won the “Development Award” twice at the Netherlands Film Festival, in 2009 and 2013, and was nominated for the Best Cinematography Award in 2015. It was also nominated for Best Film at the East End Film Festival in the United Kingdom in 2015.

The live performance segment of the evening will be led by The GypsyJazz Project, a Cairo-based music group that is known for pioneering the gypsy jazz music genre in Egypt. Their style is influenced by the founder of the genre, Django Reinhardt, and his music colleague Stephane Grappelli.

Three of the band members, Andrew Guindi, Amr Soliman and Michael Adel, play the gypsy guitar. The band’s lineup also includes Amir Latif on violin, Ashraf Rezk on accordion, Andrew Safwat on bass and Monica Roshdy on vocals.

“3elbt Alwan” is an art and work space in Maadi. The venue hosts art and antiquities exhibitions and galleries, as well as musical performances.