"Girls' Talk" & "The Lady Bug" in "7ème rencontres de l'image"

Both of my films "Girls' Talk" or "Conversation de filles" and "The Lady Bug" or "La Coccinelle" will be screened in the 7th edition of "Les Rencontres de l’image" film festival in CFCC; the French Cultural Center in Cairo, Egypt. "The Lady Bug" will be screened in the opening day on April 13th, 2011 and "Girls' Talk" on April 17th, 2011  and at 6 p.m.

For full details please check the following link:

http://www.cfcc-eg.org/spip.php?article2890

Adress:

The French Cultural Center

Madrasset el Huquq el Frinseya St., Mounira

Cairo

Egypt

Tel: +20 (2) 27 91 58 00

Girls' Talk Film Review By Mai Ayyad

Girls' Talk: Finding Vent, Wherever it May Be

There are very rare moments, in which the self can find its release, can strip itself of all its pretences and speak its inner thoughts.

This happens in Mayye Zayed’s short film Girls’ Talk in the most strange of places. Set entirely in a girls’ school bathroom, the film shows the distant, yet very deep friendship that springs unconventionally between two teenage girls.

The rebellious girls do not adhere to the strict note that states, ‘Writing on the bathroom door is uncivilised behaviour.’ Instead, the bathroom door becomes their costumed Facebook wall.

One time, a girl writes a random thought and returns the next day to find that another girl has replied to her. She replies back and they continue corresponding for a long time, without ever discovering each other’s identity.

The way of communication, weird as it may be, gives room for the girls to express themselves freely. As they start to develop a sense of attachment, their thoughts become more and more intimate. They wait for the answer that feels like salvation to them.

Girls' Talk is such a beautiful and delicate film. The plotline is smart and realistic, the need to talk and relate to someone cannot always be fulfilled in regular relationships. When talking anonymously, embarrassment does not exist; you are saving face and finding relief.

The scenes, shots and lighting create a very lively image that instantly captivates the audience, and the story has a strong sense of familiarity to it. The film’s details are very abundant, ranging from the girls’ clothes and pencil cases that they take to the bathroom, to the numerous witty comments scribbled on the door.

Renaud Pijselman’s music is absolutely captivating and an excellent choice; certainly one of the most remarkable features of the film. It goes very well with the story, and keeps resonating in the viewers mind.

Girls’ Talk is produced by the Jesuit Cultural Centre as part of an independent filmmaking workshop, so one can assume that it is nearly a no-budget film. Naturally, it has some setbacks in sound and quality, but the end result remedies all that.

Mai Ayyad

Cairo360

For the article please check the following link:

http://www.cairo360.com/article/tv%20&%20dvd/1485/girls-talk-finding-vent-and-wherever-it-may-be/

DOX BOX 2011

DOX BOX is the first Independent International Documentary Film Festival in Syria. I was lucky enough to be part of its 4th edition that took place between the 1st and 10th of March in Damascus. I had some training sessions with Arab & international industry professionals such as established & experienced producers, filmmakers, distributers, festivals' representatives and TV commissioning editors among others. It was really great to meet people from Sundance, Rotterdam, Abu Dhabi Film Festivals, European Documentary Network (EDN), Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and many others. Also I've met some great filmmakers who became very dear friends to me and to watch some great documentary films during the festival I could not have watched else where beside of course discovering the beauty of the city Damascus :)

http://www.dox-box.org/2011/

Girls' Talk in LES Film Festival in NYC

My short fiction film "Girls' Talk" is now being screened in "LES film festival" in for independent films with budget under $30,000 in NYC in USA. It was screened in the opening night on February 8th and will be screened again in the nternational night on February 23rd :) Here is the festival's film schedule.

The film's budget was theoretically about L.E 3000 which is about $500 but since it was made during the filmmaking workshop in Jesuits Cultural Center that I attended, I had to shoot it inside the building so I didn't pay anything for renting the place or the camera or the light equipment that i used none of. I did all the editing with "Mahmoud El Soghiar" in my laptop so I didn't pay for it either. The only thing I had to pay for was the ties and one blue shirt for "Radwa" and I borrowed the other one for "Dalia Samir" from my dad :) I had also to pay only for a hard paper to paint it and stick it on the door and write on it, so the total actual budget was about L.E 100 which is around $20 :)

Egyptian Revolution Jan 25

The revolution in Egypt started in January 25th, 2011. What started as an event in facebook ended up as one of the biggest peaceful demonstrations in the modern history of Egypt. Here are some photos I took during the anti-Mubarak march of million in Alexandria.

Support "Girls' Talk"

I have sent my film "Girls' Talk" to the online film festival "Women's Voices Now".

The film was chosen for round 2 in the festival so if you like it you can support it by voting in the following link:

http://womensvoicesnow.org/watchfilm/girls_talk/

It was very exciting for me to find it randomly in a web site announcing the festival:

http://muslimahmediawatch.org/2010/10/the-womens-voices-now-film-festival/

It was even more exciting to find coincidently the film being screened in LA in USA in a random photo on the internet from the festival's facebook group :) I just wonder what were the people's opinions about it.

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

My Web Site

Now finally I can say that I have a web site officially :)

http://www.wix.com/mayyezayed/index

The Lady Bug

A Film By: Mayye Zayed
Sound Designer: Michal Krajaok
Special Thanks: Jan Koester - Marian Mentrop

It was shot by the camera Canon 550D. It was edited and composited by Adobe After effects CS5.

This short claymation film was made during an animation workshop that took place in Goethe Institute in Alexandria in September 2010 with the support of  Talking Animals animation studio in Berlin.

الميم و الياء

كنت طفلة في التاسعة من عمرها عندما عرفت إسمي.. و قد تتسألون ماذا عن قبل ذلك و ستكون إجابتي أنني حقاً لم أكن أعلم أو لم انتبه جيداً.. قد تتسألون ماذا في هذين الحرفين.. الميم و الياء و ستكون إجابتي الأربع وعشرين عاماً من عمري.. و قد تتسألون لما أكتب إليكم هذا و ستكون إجابتي أن أبسط شيء تعرفه عن شخص هو إسمه. إنني أتذكر هذا اليوم بوضوح شديد كأنه الأمس.. و كيف لا يكون و قد ترتبت عليه حياتي فيم بعد!! لقد كنت في لجنة إمتحان السنة الثالثة الإبتدائية و في هذا العام كانت المرة الأولى لإمتحانات نصف العام و آخره  أن تكون تابعة للوزارة و ليست للمدرسة و كنا أول دفعة تطبق عليها هذه اللائحة كعادتنا طوال أيام الدراسة. و أيام الطفولة كنت طالبة مجتهدة تجعلني أمي أذهب إلى المدرسة قبل موعد الإمتحان بساعة على الأقل لأنتظر و أنتظر و أنتظر حتى يتملكني الملل و لعل هذا هو سبب مواعيدي السيئة بعد ذلك. و قد كنت ذهبت يومها و جلست في مكاني و قد وضعت القلم الرصاص.. فلم يكن يُسمح لنا وقتها باستخدام القلم الحبر.. و وضعت أيضاً الممحاة و المبراة و المسطرة و رقم الجلوس أمامي بكل عناية و نظام و انتظرت ورقة الامتحان. و جاءت الورقة بعد فترة و كتبت عليها إسمي و قرأت الفاتحة كما أوصتني أمي و ما أن قرأت أول سؤال حتى شعرت بالكلمات و الحروف و الصور في رأسي الصغير تندفع فتحرك قلمي ليسطر الإجابة . ولم يمض سوى القليل حتى شعرت بيد حانية تربت على كتفي و كنت منهمكة في الإجابة في زمنٍ إعتدت أن أكون متفوقة دراسياً فيه. و علمت على الفور أنها المعلمة تريد أن تتأكد من أنني قد كتبت جميع بياناتي بشكلٍ صحيح و لكنها ما ألقت نظرة على بياناتي حتى ابتسمت قائلة: "ميّ حبيبتي لقد أخطأتِ في كتابة أسمك" و لم أفهم ما تعنيه وقتها فأومأت برأسي نافية و أنا أقول: "لا لم أخطىء" و ابتسمت معلمتي مرة أخرى و هى تقول: "إن أسمك هو ميّ محمد زايد محمد" "لا إسمي هو ميّ محمد زايد زيّان" ابتسمت المعلمة مرة أخرى و لعل الضيق كان قد تملكها مني و هي تقول: "الإسم المكتوب برقم الجلوس هو الإسم المكتوب بشهادة الميلاد و هو ميّ محمد زايد محمد". و أتذكر أنني غضبت كثيراً و أنا أقول:"لقد أخطأوا فإن إسمي هو ميّ محمد زايد زيّان" و لكنها أقنعتني أن أكتب الإسم المكتوب برقم الجلوس في ورقة الإمتحان لأنه لو كتبت إسمي كاملاً صحيحاً فلا وجود لأحد بمثل هذا الإسم. و علمت بعد ذلك من أمي أنه يوجد خطأ بشهادة ميلادي حيث أن جدي أبا أمي رحمه الله هو من كتبها و ليس أبي.. و عُرفت طوال أيام المدرسة و الجامعة بميّ زايد ظناً من الجميع أن زايد هو اسم عائلتي و ليس اسم جدي. و لقد حاولت كثيراً أن أصلحه و لكن دون جدوى. و منذ ذلك اليوم يصر البعض أنه يعرفني جيداً أو ربما يعرف ميّ زايد.. و هناك البعض من لا يهمه أمري فأكون بالنسبة له ميّ زيدان أو زياد أو حتى زيادة .. و هناك من لا أكون بالنسبة له سوى حرفي الميم و الياء .. هذا إن تذكرهما .. و لكنني لست أياً من هؤلاء فأنا ميّ زيّان حتى و إن لم يوجد مثل هذا الإسم في الأوراق الرسمية. 

Show/Demo Reel 2010

This video is my show reel for the year 2010 in all aspects of filmmaking that I work in. It's my show reel as a cinematographer or DP, editor & director. The Cameras used in shooting are either Sony Z1 or Handy cams. Most of these short films were made as exercises in the Jesuits Filmmaking Workshop in Alexandria.

The music tracks used in this video are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

"Forgotten"
Album: Heart of Winter
By: Frozen Silence

"Ana Haweit"
By: Sayed Darwish

"Long Time"
Album: Time
By: Renaud Pijselman

"Loneliness"
Album: Frozen Silence
By: Frozen Silence


"Cherish"
Album: Frozen Silence
By: Frozen Silence

"Electronic Noise Controller - Nano"
Album: Free Electrons vol. 4
By: Arena Of Electronic Music