Rani Massalha’s ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son,’ About a Coptic Pig Farmer in Egypt, Takes Top Award at Red Sea Souk
variety.comRafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor The third edition of the Red Sea Souk, the market arm of the Red Sea Film Festival, awarded its top prize of $100,000 to “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rani Massalha.
Another eight feature projects and two TV series were awarded cash and in-kind prizes as part of the Red Souk Awards. Massalha’s film, a co-production between Egypt, Tunisia and France, tells the story of a pig farmer working in Egypt who is a Copt — a native Christian community in the country, often persecuted — amidst a breakout of the swine flu that sends Egypt into a spiral of psychosis.
In a statement, the writer-director said: “The pigs of Egypt were ‘sacrificed’ under political pressure and hysterical media coverage organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, crystalizing the structural violence of Egyptian social relations between communities.” “Isn’t it written in the Koran that every animal is a creature of God?
I don’t intend to treat my story like a documentary that will relate the facts of the ‘pig crisis,’ but rather to tell the story of a character within a Coptic family, in order to reveal its internal dynamics.” “I intend to make an intimate thriller, from Salem’s unique perspective, following his obsessive need to make the right choices.
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