Souad

International Narrative Competition

International Premiere

FEATURE | Egypt, Tunisia, Germany | 102 MINUTES | Arabic | English subtitles

SOUAD

Women, Drama

On the bus, a stranger meets Souad (a breakout Bassant Ahmed): she excitedly explains that she’s studying for finals at the university in Zagazig, Egypt, and shows her photos of her fiancé, Ahmed (Hussein Ghanem), an army officer in Sinai. It sounds wonderful—but it’s not exactly true. In reality, Souad is torn between the expectations set by her traditional upbringing and her social media-based life among her peers, which splits her life in two. By day, she helps her family around the house and looks after her teenage sister Rabab (Basmala Elghaiesh); by night, she’s glued to her phone, sending sexts to her distant content creator boyfriend Ahmed in Alexandria.


Ayten Amin’s feature film is an assured, harrowing glimpse at the difficulty of knowing, let alone fully realizing, oneself. As the internal and external pressures on Souad build to their breaking point, Amin guides the film toward a striking narrative shift: an expansion from a nuanced character study into a panorama of social attitudes in contemporary Egypt. —Frederic Boyer

2021 Award Winner. Get your Tribeca At Home Awards Pass to watch online. See the full list of 2021 Award Winners here.


CAST & CREDITS

Directed by Ayten Amin

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Ayten Amin studied film at the American University in Cairo. She co-directed the documentary Tahrir 2011, which premiered at Venice Film Festival. her feature debut, Villa 69, screened at film festivals in Abu Dhabi, Malmö, and Cannes.

Director
Ayten Amin
Producer
Sameh Awad
Screenwriter
Mahmoud Ezzat, Ayten Amin
Cinematographer
Maged Nader
Editor
Khaled Moeit
Co-Producer
Dora Bouchoucha, Lina Chaabane, Mohamed Hefzy, Wim Wenders, Léa Germain, Ayten Amin, Mark Lotfy
Sound Design
Victor Bresse, Sara Kaddouri, Moustafa Shaaban, Mohab Ezz
Sound Mixing
Lama Sawaya
Art Director
Chahira Mouchir
Costumes
Nayera El Dahshoury
Color Grading
Belal Hibri
Cast
Bassant Ahmed, Basmala Elghaiesh, Hussein Ghanem, Hager Mahmoud, Sarah Shedid, Carol Ackad

CONTACTS

International Sales Contact
Martin Gondre
Best Friend Forever
Brussels, 1000
Phone: 6 72 23 27 18
sales@bffsales.eu
US Sales Contact
Federica Sainte-Rose
CAA Media Finance
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: 424 288 2000
federica.sainterose@caa.com
Print Source
Sameh Awad
Vivid Reels
Cairo, 11371
sam@vividreels.com