PART OF MIZNA'S TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Post-show panel discussion with Mohannad Ghawanmeh
Screening with short film Dry Hot Summers
This past July, Egypt lost one of its most prolific contemporary filmmakers, Mohamed Khan. Join us in honoring his memory with his final feature-length film, a charming comedy that offers a closer look at the politics of class and gender in a sliver of Egyptian society.
Before the summer officially begins, before the waves of tourist flock to a seaside town near Alexandria, Hala (Hana Shiha) travels to a resort to meet a lover Hesham (Hany El Metennawy). His visit is short, but Hala stays to enjoy the beach and unwittingly becomes the focus of the other three inhabitants’ attention--Yehia (Maged El Kedwany), his wife Magda (Lana Mushtaq), and Gomaa (Ahmed Dawood). Khan’s film presents a unique look at the disparity between rich and poor in Egypt through comedy and expert performances.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Mohamed Khan has cemented his role as an distinctive director in the Egyptian and Arab filmmaking scene. With a rich repertoire of more than 25 films, his works have received over 30 international awards and recognitions. Khan studied filmmaking in London and joined the Script Department at the General Egyptian Company in 1963. He has worked as a director and assistant director on numerous projects, and he is the author of two books on cinema.
PANELIST BIOGRAPHY
Mohannad Ghawanmeh has produced, acted in, curated, written about, and lectured on film. He has curated/directed Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Fetival, the Twin Cities Italian Film Festival, the Arab American National Museum’s Film Festival, and UCLA’s Melnitz Movies. Ghawanmeh is currently a PhD student in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA and is working on a dissertation that investigates the political economy of Egyptian silent cinema. His scholarship also encompasses Arab cinema, early/silent cinema, nationalism/transnationalism, film financing, censure/censorship, digital humanities, and more.
DRY HOT SUMMERS
Dir. Sherif Elbendary
2015 | Egypt/Germany | Arabic with English subtitles | 30 min | Minnesota Premiere
SYNOPSIS: Shawky (Mohamed Farid), a man suffering from old age, and Doaa (Nahed El Sabai), a woman preparing for marriage, meet in a taxi and become forever linked in this touching story about the kindness of strangers.
FESTIVALS & AWARDS
Best Short Film, Oran International Film Festival, Algeria, 2015
Best Director, Bangalore International Film Festival, India, 2015
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY: Sherif Elbendary lives and works in Cairo. His first short film Rise and Shine was selected for more than 75 festivals and won 33 awards. He is currently working on his first feature film, Ali, the Goat, and Ibrahim, and continues to make short films
PRESENTED WITH SUPPORT BY
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Mizna presents the eleventh Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. The Arab Film Fest showcases modern Arab cinema, featuring debut screenings of independent narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts.