File - ''The Knight & The Princess’’.
CAIRO – 9 July 2019: ''The Knight & The Princess’’ is the first Egyptian animated feature film that will participate in the third edition of El Gouna International Film Festival that is scheduled to take place from September 19 to 27, 2019.
‘’The Knight & The Princess’’ will have its world premiere at the 3rd edition of GFF, before its public release in October.
Inspired by a real 7th century Arab warrior, the plot follows young adventurer Mohammed Bin Alkassim with a fictional twist. At the young age of 15, he believed that anything was possible, and he took it upon himself to save women and children abducted by pirates in the Indian sea.
As he turned 17, Mohammed Bin Alkassim was ready to take on the tyrant king Daher. He left his hometown Basra, Iraq with his lifelong friend Zaid, and his mentor Abu Alaswad, in a challenging adventure to free Sind.
The film delves into the exciting experiences that helped shape the great leader he would later become.
Written and directed by Bashir El Deek, the film features voices from a fine cast that includes Mohamed Henedy, Donia Samir Ghanem, Medhat Saleh, Maged El Kedwany, Lekaa Elkhamissi; along with acting legends like Abla Kamel, Abdel Rahman Abou Zahra, the late Amina Rizk and the late Saeed Saleh. The character designs were created by the late Mustafa Hussein.
“We are proud to showcase the first Egyptian animated feature film created by an Arab crew, whose work is on par with prominent animated films from around the world.
The film not only represents a significant milestone for the Arab film industry, but also helps it take crucial steps towards expanding its horizons through a genre that embodies creativity, imagination and talent in a brand new light in the region,” commented Intishal Al Timimi, director of El Gouna Film Festival on the festival official website.
“We are happy to screen The Knight & The Princess at the 3rd edition of GFF. It will surely add value to our lineup, as it not only pioneers in tackling a genre that has been difficult to produce in the Egyptian and Arab film industry, but also marks the comeback of writer and director Bashir El Deek, one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the Egyptian neo-realism,” stated Amir Ramses, artistic director of the Festival.
“Making this film was a huge challenge. We started this project 20 years ago and faced production hurdles all along the way. Yet, we did not allow them to diminish our enthusiasm. We continued to work on the film and made it our mission to prove that we have what it takes to create an Arab animated film without depending on foreign expertise,” said Abbas Bin El-Abbas, film producer.
“We are delighted to premiere our film at GFF, which we consider as one of the prominent rising film festivals in the region. And we hope that this step will facilitate the distribution process of the film later on, since we may encounter similar obstacles to what other independent films face in general,” he added.
The organizers of El Gouna Film Festival's third edition extended the deadline for accepting applications to July 2.
El Gouna Film Platform is an industry-oriented event aimed at supporting and empowering Arab filmmakers, providing them with technical and financial support.
The platform provides two different programs for filmmakers wishing to participate and learn: El Gouna Cinema Bridge and El Gouna Runway.
El Gouna Runway is a laboratory for the development of film projects and for joint-productions. It aims to empower Arab filmmakers, including producers and directors working on film projects in the development stage, or post-production films, by providing creative and financial support.
Applications submitted, prior to the date indicated above, will be examined by a specialized film committee designated by El Gouna Film Festival. Chosen projects will be selected based on their content, artistic vision and the feasibility of their financial implementation.
El Gouna Film Festival or GFF is an annual film festival established in 2017, hosted in the Red Sea resort town of El Gouna, Egypt. The inaugural festival started September 22, 2017
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