Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
€529,000
CONFIRMED FINANCING
€60,720
CONTACT
rasha.hosny2010@gmail.com
+201227990327
Hassan and his dog, Rambo, get pulled into a difficult situation. Overnight, Hassan's neighbor, Karem, resolved to hunt the dog. This prompts Hassan to improvise, trying to find a way out of the country to save Rambo from an unknown fate.
Hassan is a man in his thirties, living with his mother and Rambo, his dog and best friend, in a poor neighborhood. He hates having a steady job, but his mother pressures him to keep one so he can assist her with their daily expenses.
After his mother threatens to cut off the little money she gives him, he decides to go back to his old job, working for Shiko as a sandwich seller. One night, when Hassan returns home, he gets into a fight with Karem, a neighbor working as a car mechanic. Hassan is hit hard, and in his defense, Rambo rushes down and bites Karem in the crotch.
When Karem recovers, he tries to vindicate his lost pride. People of the neighborhood suggest that Rambo is given to Karem, yet Hassan disagrees to such a deal, finding himself in a tough spot.
Assisted by his friend Ahmed, who works in a poor governmental veterinary hospital, and Asmaa, a girl who loves Hassan, our protagonist begins a journey in which he attempts to move Rambo to a safe place within the country. Unfortunately, with Karem’s connections within their neighborhood, Hassan is being watched everywhere he goes.
With the help of Jamila, an animal aid activist, Hassan finally succeeds in finding a shelter for his dog outside of the country. This drives Karem mad, and so Hassan and his mother are kicked out of their home, left with an unknown fate.
In 2015, a video of a dog tied to a light pole in a local area spread over social media. Around the dog stand 7 men, slashing the knives they hold at the hapless dog that screams in anger and pain. Even though the dog is tied, the men seem afraid of it. Then one man steps in, hits the dog hard on the head, killing it on the spot. Despite the cruelty of the video, I watched it repeatedly, and every time, I felt I was the dog; the men stood around me, participating in my murder with no action of rescue whatsoever.
A country can’t keep on with its inhabitants lacking security and sound safety. We fear everything around us. This country’s citizens worry that violence has taken part in every inch of their lives. My generation can’t see a way out except through immigration—an idea that still haunts me until this day.
I feel that we and stray animals have become so much alike. We have no real value; getting killed, chased, imprisoned, and tortured, which is why we keep looking over our shoulders in every waking minute, unsure of where the next danger will come from.
My film is essentially based on the story of ‘The Pyramids Dog.’ Rambo faces the same crisis as some vagabonds insist on murdering him in front of everybody. The only difference between the two tales is that Hassan, the protagonist, actually fights with everything he has to save his dog.
Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo is an important and promising project. The film has distinctive characters, which I think are vital to see in all the films we watch. It is true to its surrounding environment and community, as well as to the context in which the idea has been generated. It is honest in raising legitimate questions about fate and the future in a country struck by storms that not only toppled rulers and governments, but also devastated the hopes and ambitions of its young generation.
Through the film, we are trying to present a realistic cinema that is based on our Egyptian identity—and to rely on details that are both humane and deep—in order to analyze the changes that society has been through.
Through Hassan’s tale, we experience humane meanings and interactions that some may think no longer exist, due to our cruel life and unjust living conditions. In a world where war and deadly conflicts are the most read and produced news, the characters of the film take us to explore humane relationships, starting from a small alley in a popular neighborhood in the middle of Egypt's capital, all the way to different humans in many parts of the world.
All of this makes me certain that now is the most appropriate time to produce this film, since it is not only expressive of its community, but can also act as a mirror to different societies, despite their different natures and circumstances.
2020: Two Strangers and a Night
2015: Not for Girls