‘The Brink of Dreams’ Directors Receive Variety MENA Talent of the Year Award

variety.com:

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir, whose latest documentary “The Brink of Dreams” became the first Egyptian film to win the Golden Eye Award for best documentary at Cannes earlier this year, have received the Variety Middle East and North Africa Talent of the Year Award.

The ceremony was held at the El Gouna Film Festival, where their film is also playing as part of the Feature Narrative Competition. “The Brink of Dreams” is a moving coming-of-age story following the Panorama Barsha Troupe, an all-female theater group in a remote village in southern Egypt who take to the streets to act out their plays denouncing underage marriage, domestic violence and patriarchy in a deeply conservative society. “It’s wonderful to get this award and truly meaningful for us as filmmakers.

We deeply respect the creatives who received the award before us and are so very happy to join them,” said Riyadh. “It’s also special for us to be receiving this the same day of the MENA premiere of ‘The Brink of Dreams.’ This is a much-awaited homecoming and the first time an Egyptian audience is going to get to see the film and we are super excited.” “This is the first-ever documentary to be released widely and commercially in cinemas in Egypt,” added El Amir. “It’s an important moment for the industry and a different film from what audiences are used to seeing.

It’s very rare to see young girls from the southern part of Egypt, so this is also a film about representation.” Riyadh and El Amir are the founders of Cairo-based Felucca Films.