Girls' Talk - كلام بنات

Girls' Talk is a short film I made during the independent filmmaking workshop in Jesuits Cultural Center in Alexandria in 2010. 


Cast
Radwa
Dalia Samir


Crew
Screenwriter: Hend Bakr/Mayye Zayed
Music Composer: Renaud Pijselman
DOP: Ahmed Magdy
Editing: Mahmoud El Soghiar/Mayye Zayed
Director: Mayye Zayed

32 Days in France

I came to Marseille; the French Mediterranean city on the 2nd of November for a 1-month artist residency during the whole month as a part of "The J.M Liverato Project". It's a cultural exchange program between ZINC/ECM in France and Studio Emad Eddin Foundation (SEE) in Egypt. I will leave Marseille on the 30th and then go to Paris to spend 4 more days to come back to Alexandria on the 4th of December which means I will be spending 32 days here in France :)

I'm here to discover the city which is very similar in many aspects to the city of Alexandria back in Egypt where I come from. I'm planning to make a documentary film about Marseille. I haven't decided a theme yet as i'm letting myself to discover the city first. Also I'm supposed to attend The 23rd Instants Video Festival which is taking place these days here in Marseille besides many other cultural and artistic events and workshops. On the 23rd of November there will be also a screening for my work and that of Karim Shaaban; an Egyptian artist and graphic designer in the same residency.

I'm having a blog called "32 Days in France" as a daily diary for my impressions about the city and the country in general.

http://32daysinfrance.blogspot.com

أوضة الفيران - The Mice Room

"The Mice Room" is a collaborative digital feature film written, directed, shot and edited  by 7 different filmmakers including myself and Ahmed Magdy, Hend Bakr, Mahmoud El Soghiar (Or Houda as he likes to call himself), Mohamad El Hadidi, Mohamed Zidan and Nermeen Salem, all coming from the Egyptian city Alexandria. We all attended together the one-year independent filmmaking workshop together in Jesuits Cultural Center in Alexandria in 2009/2010 where we played a different role in the crew of each others  short films.

The film is divided into 7 segments or stories taking place in Alexandria, about 7 different characters connected together in a way or another. Each segment is named after its main character. The film's main theme is fear with all its types but also there are some sub-themes like loneliness, death and family. It is a very low budget independent digital film that's produced by "Rufy" for production including the 7 filmmakers and "Fig Leaf" Studio. All the filmmakers and the rest of the crew and cast are volunteering and not being paid.

It's still in progress as we've already finished scriptwriting and began shooting. It is shot using the canon 550D DSLR camera with different interchangeable lenses. One of the segments "Maha" has already been shot last August in different places like Cinnabon Cafe, Down Town Streets and Rufy's Fine Arts Center. Another segment "Hassan" is being shot these days in El Max which is a very famous fishermen district in Alexandria. The rest of the segments will be shot afterwords until February 2011. The film is supposed to be finished in August 2011.

Shooting a shot from "Maha" segment near Fouad Street in Down Town

You can know more about the whole project in the film's blog:

http://themiceroomfilm.blogspot.com