'Youm Lel Setat', 'Fatwa' compete at the 4th Festival Films Femmes Afrique

CAIRO - 1 March 2020: '' Youm Lel Setat'' ( A Day for Women) and '' Fatwa'' movies are competing in the feature films competition at the 4th Festival Films Femmes Afrique (African Women Film Festival) in Senegal (February 21- March 7).

Held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and 8 other regional cities, the 4th edition of the Festival Films Femmes Afrique take place under the theme ''Women in Resistance'', boasting the total of 60 films including; short, feature, documentary and animation films.

It also hosts a number of panel discussions, and seminars between the filmmakers and the audience that take place after the screenings.



The story of ‘’Youm lel Setat’’ movie takes place in one of the underprivileged Egyptian districts, where the three main heroines of the movie, Azza, Shaimaa and Laila, live. One day, a new swimming pool opens in their neighborhood with a day designated for women only; Sundays.

The first Sunday witnessed the gathering of all the women in the area who come from diverse backgrounds. Azza has long dreamed of wearing swimsuits, Shaimaa finally finds someone who listens to her when she talks about her private life and Laila tries to overcome her grief over her late son.

The movie stars ElhamShaheen, Nelly Karim, Ahmed al-Fishawy, Mahmoud Hemeida, EyadNassar, Nahed al-Sebaie, Hala Sedky and Ahmed Dawoud. “Youm lel Setat” is written by HanaaAttia and directed by Kamla Abou Zekri.

The film won seven awards at international film festivals, including the Audience Award at the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam, Best Screenplay Award at the Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq, Best Music and Third Production awards at the Egyptian National Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Festival di Cinema Africano di Verona. The film also competed in the Official Competition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) marking its Arab world premiere, where its star Nahed ElSebai won the Best Actress Award for her role in the film.

'' Fatwa'' film tells the story of Brahim, a Tunisian guy living in France, who decides to go back to Tunisia to attend the funeral of his son, Marouane, who passed away in a motorcycle accident. He then discovers that Marouane, was militating with a radical Islamist group, so Brahim decides to identify the people who brainwashed his son until the investigation leads him to doubt the circumstances surrounding his son's death.

Written and directed by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, ''Fatwa'' stars Ahmed Hafiane, Ghalia Benali, and Sarra Hannachi. The film is produced by Arts Distribution (Tunisia) and Les Films du Fleuve (Belgium).

''Fatwa'' received a total of 20 international awards, including Best Actress Award for Tunisian actress Ghalia Benali at the Ecrans Noir (Black Screen) Film Festival in Cameroon. Moreover, the film reaped four awards at the Tunisian Film Festival; Best Screenplay, Best Décor, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, Best Feature Film at the International Festival of Cinema and Audiovisual of Burundi (FESTICAB), Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arab Film at the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), Grand Prix at the Festival Maghrébin du Film OUJDA in Morocco, and the Golden Dhow Prize at the Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania.