Film Barra El Manhag, directed by Amr Salama, hits the global festival circuit this year and screens at the 12th edition of MALMO Arab Film Festival in Sweden, on May 7, as part of the Arabian Nights programme. Furthermore, it will display within the School Cinema programme of the festival. Days before, the film was announced as the closing film of Hollywood Arab Film Festival, USA (April 25-30).
Previously, Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival announced that the film Barra El Manhag will compete in the official competition of its 70th edition (May 20-27).
Barra El Manhag was the film with the highest number of awards at Cairo Film Society Festival (7 awards). Furthermore, it was selected as one of the best 7 films released in 2021. It world premiered at the closing ceremony of Red Sea International Film Festival, which runs in the historic city of Jeddah (Dec.6-15,2021).
Barra El Manhag is a light-hearted drama about Nour, a 13-year-old orphan boy. As all the boys are afraid of the haunted house right in front of the school, he's encouraged to go into the house to gain their respect, only to find an old man living there, hiding from the world. A friendship and apprenticeship evolve between the boy and the old man, leading to a journey of self discovery for both of them.
The film stars Maged El Kedwany and the child Omar Sharif and features Ruby, Asma Abulyazeid, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, and Donia Maher as guest stars. Featuring DOP Ahmed Beshary (Chico), the film is directed by Amr Salama who wrote the story of the film and co-wrote the script alongside Khaled Diab. It is produced by Lagoonie Film Production (Shahinaz El-akkad), and distributed locally by Dollar Film, and across the Arabian Gulf region by Orient Films. MAD Solutions handles the film’s marketing and promotion.
Founded by Producer Shahinaz Elakkad in 2017, Lagoonie Film Production is an Egyptian company that aims to develop the film and TV industry in Egypt and the Arab world through making high-quality films and TV series that address non-mainstream topics to put the Arab film and TV industry on the international map.