CIFF World IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY web 2

In The Last Days Of The City

(AKHER AYAM EL MADINA)

Year 2016
Runtime 118 mins
Language Arabic
Subtitles English

IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY is a beautiful tribute to Cairo shot before the Egyptian revolution of 2011 changed the city forever. The fictional film, which contains material shot between 2009-2010, revolves around the main character of a filmmaker Khalid (Khalid Abdalla, THE KITE RUNNER) who is looking for a new flat in Cairo. Khalid’s quest for a flat seems to be never-ending, as is his mission to complete his film. Khalid continues filming without finding the film’s soul. To complicate matters, his mother is not feeling well and his girlfriend is on the verge of leaving Egypt. He gets some much-needed suggestions and assurance from three friends who are visiting Cairo for a film conference. The friend’s encouraging words about Cairo and some of the footage may have seemed harmless back in 2010, but now carry greater relevance considering the changes Cairo has undergone.

Winner of the Caligari Film Award at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, and Best Director at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, Tamer El Said’s film is a poetic look at a city that now only exists in memories and images.

Awards
BAFICI, Best Director; Berlin, Caligari Film Award; T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (Poland), Grand Prix
Festivals
Official Selection 2016: Berlin, BAFICI, IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival, T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (Poland)
Director
Tamer El Said
Producer
Tamer El Said, Khalid Abdalla
Screenwriter
Tamer El Said, Rasha Salti
Cinematographer
Bassem Fayad
Editor
Mohamed A. Gawad, Vartan Avakian, Barbara Bossuet
Production Design
Salah Marei
Music
Amélie Legrand, Victor Moïse
Cast
Khalid Abdalla, Laila Samy, Hanan Youssef, Zeinab Mostafa
Sound
Mikael Barre