Egyptian Consulate Newsletter

April 2006

 

Cultural Events:

 

 

Special Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum about Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh: (for more details, click here)
March 28, 2006–July 9, 2006

 

 

Featuring Egyptian Movies in Alwan Festival in New York City: (for more details about locations and tickets, please click here)

 

Downtown Girls Mohamed Khan / Egypt / 2005 / 92 min

Sunday, April 16 - Anthology Film Archives, 9:30 PM: 

 

 

Menna Shalaby and Hend Sabry are Banat West El-Balad (Downtown Girls)
in Mohamed Khan's return to mainstream cinema. In this tale about
marginalized Egyptians, Shalaby plays Yasmine, a hairdresser who
works in a downtown beauty shop. While taking the subway, she meets
Joumana (Sabry), who works around the corner, and the two instantly
become close friends. The problem is that Yasmine is a pathological
liar who can't tell the truth about her work or family even to her
shy boyfriend Samir, played by Khaled Abul-Naga. In Arabic w/ English
S/T

 

State of Love Saad Hendawi / Egypt / 2005 / 90 min

Tuesday, April 18 - Anthology Film Archives, 7:30 pm

A box-office hit in its native Egypt, "State of Love" is a post 9/11
love story looking at Arabs in the West, and is a successful
depiction of the dilemmas and challenges facing a generation all too
often lost in translation amidst all the talk of dialogues between
two civilizations. In Arabic w/ English S/T

 

Heads and Tails Kamla Abu Zikri / Egypt / 2005 / 86 min

Wednesday, April 19 - Tribeca Cinemas

 

Helmed by Kamla Abou-Zekry, Heads and Tails stars Hend Sabry who
appears as a girl called Hend. She dreams of becoming a star and ends
up falling in love with her tough acting coach, played by Mahmoud
Hemeida. The latter is still recovering from the discovery of his
wife’s infidelity. In Arabic w/ English S/T

 

Followed by:
 
 Where To - Karim Fanous / Egypt / US / 2005 / 12 min  
9:00 PM
A middle-aged New York cab driver from Egypt picks up a fellow
Egyptian, arriving in the city for the first time in pursuit of the
“American Dream." They have a conversation that will help each
of them come to a realization about their life choices. In Arabic
w/English S/T

 

 

Gazelle's Blood Mohamed Yasin / Egypt / 2005 / 110 min

Saturday, April 22 - NYU Cantor Film Center, 5:30 PM

 

Written and produced by the acclaimed Wahid Hamed and directed by
Mohammed Yasin, this drama gathers Mona Zaki with veteran stars Nour
El-Sherif and Youssra. The film offers portraits of characters from a
cross-section of Egyptian society and traces the roots of social
upheaval by shedding light on the reasons that drive an unemployed
young man (Amr Waked) to join a radical organization. El-Sherif plays
the role of ex-con artist Gaber, who tries to pay his dues by helping
poor people, while Youssra depicts an aristocratic woman isolated

 

 

The Embassy in the Building Amr Arafa / Egypt / 2005 / 111 min
 Sunday, April 23 - NYU Cantor Film Center, 8:15 PM:

 

The film revolves around a petrol engineer, who has lived in Dubai
for a quarter of a century and finally returns home to Egypt only to
discover that the Israeli Embassy is located right next door to his
apartment.
In Arabic w/English S/T
from the problems of the quotidien. In Arabic w/ English S/T

 

 

Featuring Egyptian Movies in Tribeca Festival in New York: (for tickets and locations, please click here)

 

Today 30 November
[Short] (Egypt, 2005, 20 min)
 Every year on November 30, a man takes to the street with the intention of ending his own life. This year, however, he finds himself somehow giving others the strength to go on with theirs>

 

  

The Yacoubian Building
[Feature] (2006, 165 min)
 

 Featuring Egyptian Movies in ArteEast in New York: (for tickets and locations, please click here)

 

 

Tuesday, April 25, 6:30 PM

 

A tribute to legendary actor Ahmed Zaki on the first anniversary of his death.

His Excellency, The Minister (Maali al-Wazir) by Samir Seif. Egypt, 2003, 120 min, 35 mm US Premiere
In His Excellency, The Minister, Zaki brilliantly plays the part of Mr. Rustom, who after being mistakenly appointed to the ministerial cabinet due to a confusion of names, uses his position of power to illegally amass a huge fortune. The film investigates the price that Mr. Rustom pays for such power manipulation, which ultimately leads him to suffer from intense alienation from his family and friends. Through the tribulations of Rustom, the film takes an audacious and critical stance towards the current political situation in Egypt. In Arabic with English subtitles.

Post-screening discussion with Karim Tertousieh (NYU) and Mona Eltahawy (journalist, NYC)

Lecture:

Lecture: Rehabilitating Historic Cairo as Living City at Metropolitan Museum in New York (for more details, please click here)