These Girls (EL-BANATE DOL) by Tahani Rached PRESS KIT TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Transcription

1 These Girls (EL-BANATE DOL) by Tahani Rached PRESS KIT TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1- Film Info 2- Film Synopsis 3- Credits 4- Director s Biofilmography 5- Producer s Biofilmography 6- Press coverage 7- Festivals and awards 8- Studio Masr: Historical Background 9- Studio Masr: Description and contacts

2 SYNOPSIS El-Banate Dol (These Girls) plunges us into the universe of girls living on the streets of Cairo, a universe of violence and oppression, as well as freedom. Whether they are women, children or mothers, Tata, Mariam and Abeer live only in the present. Their days are full of perils, fights, dances, laughs and solidarity. El-Banate Dol also tells the story of their encounter with Hind - a luminous person, a practicing veiled Moslem animated by the universal principles of respect of the person. It is a world, invisible to indifferent eyes, that witnesses the vital and secret workings of society. CREDITS Director : Tahani Rached Producer : Karim Gamal El Din Script: Tahani Rached Camera: Nancy Abdel-Fattah Editor: Mona Rabie Music: Tamer Karawan Sound Recorder : Sameh Gamal Sound editing : Marie-Claude Gagné, Salma Radwan Sound mixing : Ahmad Gaber TECHNICAL DATA Feature-long documentary 68 minutes, Color, 16/9 Language: Arabic Shot on HDV HDCAM & Digital Beta Pal copies Production company: Studio Masr 2006 Studio Masr WORLD SALES Studio Masr sales@studiomasr.com

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5 DIRECTOR S BIOFILMOGRAPHY TAHANI RACHED Born in Cairo (Egypt) in 1947, Tahani Rached spends two years in Montreal School of Fine Arts before she actively engages in community organizations, then in cinema. She starts her career as a filmmaker in 1973 with Pour Faire Changement (To Make A Change), a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe. In 1976, she implements with the Suco a video production unit for the Tunisian Federation of amateur filmmakers. As a full-time filmmaker in the Office National du Film in Canada from 1981 till 2004, she directs eleven films. In 2005, she comes back to Egypt and directs El-Banate Dol (These Girls) produced by Studio Masr. In 2007, she starts her latest film Giran (Neighbors), also produced by Studio Masr El-Banate Dol (These Girls) (Cannes Official Selection Out of Competition) 2004 Soraida, A Woman of Palestine 2001 For a Song 1999 Emergency! A Critical Situation 1997 Four Women of Egypt 1993 Doctors with Heart 1990 Au Chic Resto Pop 1987 Haïti, nous là!, nou la! 1986 Bam Pay A! Rends-moi mon pays! 1985 Haïti. Quebec Beirut! Not Enough Death to Go Round 1982 La Phonie furieuse Six 30 minutes-films series shot within the Quebec Arab community, in the frame of the TV program «Planète» for Radio- Canada Les Voleurs de job 1979 Les Frères ennemis 1976 Leur crise, on la paye pas (Their Crisis, We Don t Pay for It) C'est pas un cadeau (Not a Gift) 1973 Pour faire changement (To Make a Change)

6 PRODUCER S BIOFILMOGRAPHY KARIM GAMAL EL DIN Born in Egypt, Karim Gamal El Din joins the American University, Cairo till 1984 where he majors in Psychology, Literature and Mass Communication. In 1987, he graduates as a Bachelor of Mass Communication from Menlo College (Paolo Alto, California). In 1988, he founds the company ORKA for Digital Special Effects, the first of its kind in the Middle East, then in 1990, the company ELIXIR for Film Production and Distribution. In 1997, the company ELIXIR is the first to introduce off-line editing in Egyptian cinema. In the year 2000, ELIXIR expands by landing lease on the mythical Studio Misr, one of the first and largest film studios in Egypt, and the one that launched Egyptian film industry. Since then, the name was slightly transformed to become Studio Masr of he is the CEO (Misr -or Masr as pronounced by Egyptians - meaning Egypt). But the real transformation of the studio lies in restored buildings, modernized equipment and new technologies introduced, notably at the level of editing and sound. Karim is first of all a filmmaker; we owe him Hassan and Aziza: A State Security Case in 1999 that he produced as well. We owe him also a number of documentaries. A cinema passionate by all means, Karim Gamal El Din is a filmmaker, a producer, a foreman and a studio manager all essential for a film to exist he doesn t hesitate to borrow whichever hat is needed for films to be made. As a producer, we owe him El-Banate Dol (These Girls) by Tahani Rached in 2006, Ehna Etkabelna Qabl Kedah (Have We Met Before) by Hisham El Shafei in 2008, and his latest production is Giran (Neighbors) by Tahani Rached (2009).

7 QUOTES FROM PRESS "A rousing documentary on the street children of Cairo, These Girls is an agonizing and uplifting depiction of street survival at its most daunting." - Duane Byrge -- The Hollywood Reporter " These Girls is a film that proves the Cannes Film festival isn t only about competition." - Claire Cousin -- Metro Cannes "Presents their day-to-day lives with sympathy unadulterated by analysis or First World pity." - Jay Weissberg -- Variety Between the said and the unsaid, between the rudeness of the quarrels and the tenderness of a comforting hug ( ), it s a whole code that reveals itself. And a law as well : the street s. - Elisabeth Lequeret -- Cahiers du cinéma The girls are beautiful. ( ) They are filmed as superstars would be if a director were to entrust them with a role they have always dreamed of, the role of a lifetime. Yousry Nasrallah Al-Ahram Weekly "Rached is daring all of us to take notice of these girls. ( ) She s daring us to see them as human, as individuals. She s daring us. " - Aida Nassar -- The Daily Star Egypt These Girls is a film built upon the deep trust of its subjects and the long experience of its makers. - Cameron Bailey -- Toronto International Film Festival A brief but haunting window into a tragic world, the film captures the young women in all their persevering strength and marginalized wretchedness. - Nick Schager -- Slant magazine "Is this a documentary, or should it be considered a feature film, with the girls reenacting their own lives? It doesn't really matter " - Samir Farid -- Al-Ahram Weekly The film succeeded in making the girls voice heard by the world who sees them everyday, but does not care about them. ( ) Now I understand why authorities fear films. - Hala Galal --New Woman

8 LINKS TO PRESS ARTICLES Survival strategies By Samir Farid Al Ahram Weekly These Girls El-banate dol By Jay Weissberg Variety =cannes&nav=rcannes&articleid=ve &cs=1&query=jay+weissberg+these+g irls Cannes. El-Banate Dol Duane Byrge Daily Greencine Speaking themselves By Maggie Morgan Al Ahram Weekly These Girls By Duane Byrge The Hollywood Reporter hese+girls&x=33&y=14&exposenavigation=true&kw=&configtype=&searchtype=articl E_SEARCH&an=thr&action=Submit&searchInterface=THRSearch&matchType=mode%2B matchallpartial&numofrecordsperpage=10 Present Perfect By Yousry Nasrallah Al Ahram Weekly Strangers among us By Aida Nassar The Daily Star Egypt These Girls By Nick Schager Slant Magazine These Girls By Douglas College - Cinemapolitica The stakes of representation By Samir Farid Al Ahram Weekly Girls Just Wanna Have Fun By Manal el-jesri Egypt Today Not much ado By Samir Farid - Al Ahram Weekly

9 FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, May 2006 Biennale Des Cinémas Arabes À Paris, Jul Toronto International Film Festival, Sep Ismailia International Festival For Documentary & Short Films, Sep Split Film Festival, Sep Festival International Du Film Francophone De Namur, Sep Festival Do Rio, Oct New York Film Festival, Oct International Women's Film Festival Dortmund Cologne, Oct Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma De Montréal, Oct Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen Montpellier, Oct Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Nov Beirut International Documentary Festival, Nov Festival Du Monde Arabe De Montréal, Nov Journées Cinématographiques De Carthage, Nov Stockholm International Film Festival, Nov Dubai International Film Festival, Dec.2006 Caravan Of Euro-Arab Cinema (Alexandria), Dec Mexico City s International Contemporary Film Festival, Feb Miami International Film Festival, Mar Festival International Cinéma Méditerranéen de Tétouan, Mar Festival International De Films De Fribourg, Mar Washington DC International Film Festival, Apr Festival De Cine Africano De Tarifa, Apr San Francisco International Film Festival, Apr Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München, May 2007 New Zealand International Film Festival, Jul 2007 International Documentary Film Festival "Flahertiana" (Perm), Sep Festivall (African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, Milano), Sep Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival DOCLISBOA, Oct Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan, Oct Casablanca Film festival, Nov MEDFILM Festival (Rome), Nov Bursa International Silk Road Film Festival in Turkey, Dec DI/VISIONS at the House of World Cultures, Berlin, Jan DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, Jun Berlin Arab Film Festival, Nov AWARDS Best Long Documentary Award - Ismailia International Festival For Documentary & Short Films, Sep Prix Ulysse Best Documentary - Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen Montpellier, Oct Prix spécial du jury - Journées Cinématographiques De Carthage, Nov Griot d Ébène au Meilleur Documentaire - Festival De Cine Africano De Tarifa, May 2007 Grand Prize of the City of Lisbon for Best Long Film - Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival DOCLISBOA, Oct Open Eyes Award for Best Documentary MedFilm Festival, 2007 Prix spécial du Jury - Prix International du Documentaire et du Reportage Méditerranéen (12ème Édition - CMCA), 2007

10 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Egyptian cinema has celebrated its centenarian in Filmmaking in Egypt started as a risky investment based on individual efforts, and was not to be transformed into an industry per se until the involvement of national capital. In 1920, the economist Talaat Harb founded the first Egyptian bank: Banque Misr (Misr or Masr meaning Egypt). Banque Misr got involved in various economic sectors and industries, its giant cinema project being Studio Masr. After two years of building and technical staff formation in Europe, Studio Masr was inaugurated on October 12th, 1935, marking the beginning of the Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema and its establishment as an industry. Studio Masr produced feature films, distributed them and screened them in its own theatre chain: Cinema Masr. It was also considered as the sole Film School in the Middle East, and remained as such until 1959, the year of opening the High Cinema Institute in Cairo. The first film produced by Studio Masr was Wedad starring Oum Kulthoum and directed by the German director Fritz Krump. From 1935 to 1960, Studio Masr produced feature films that ranked amongst the most important productions in the history of Egyptian cinema, in addition to important productions that were shot in the studio. In 1961, with the issuing of nationalisation laws, Banque Misr and consequently Studio Masr became state property, managed by public sector. In April 2000, Elixir Artistic Services s.a.e. took over Studio Masr in the context of the national privatization program. The Private Free Zone status acquired in 2006, together with the continuous renovations and development aim to set Studio Masr with the most technologically advanced bestequipped facility in the region, production and post-production wise, giving the studio the edge in its own productions and as a service provider for foreign and local productions.

11 Studio Masr is today run by Elixir Artistic Services, an Egyptian private film and video production, post-production and distribution company established in Studio Masr lot is located on the main road to the Saqqara pyramid, 1.5 km off the Pyramids Road, and less than 3.5 km from the pyramids of Giza. It consists of five sound stages of different sizes, a state-of-the-art film processing lab, editing suites and sound facilities that are DTS and Dolby-licensed, as well as workshops, stores for equipment and set elements, actors lounges It also offers an exterior sets area that can accommodate several productions at the same time. A qualified technical team with hands-on experience works on full time basis for the support of foreign and local productions. CONTACTS Shipping Address: ELIXIR ARTISTIC SERVICES (Private Free Zone Area) 15 Studio Masr Street, El-Maryouteya Giza Egypt Tel: Fax: info@studiomasr.com sales@studiomasr.com