Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
US $332,112
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $30,000
CONTACT
sawsan.yusuf@gmail.com
+201279877803
Aisha; a Somali carer for elderly patients lives in an Egyptian neighborhood witnessing the underworld of African society where there is tension between the groups. Stuck in a loveless relationship, routine and pressure of dreary work lead her into impasse.
Aisha, a 29-year-old Muslim Somali girl, works as a health carer for elderly patients and lives in Ain Shams: a neighborhood in Cairo, where Africans from various nationalities live and there’s tension between the different groups.
Beside her job, Aisha is involved in activities with the Somali community; however dreary job, chronic insomnia, and an abandoned microbus under her house where an Egyptian gang stack their drugs and manage their illegal business make her feels pressured as well as being stuck in a loveless relationship with Abdoun; a troubled Egyptian cook involved with an Islamic group.
Soon after Aisha starts working for the old siblings Khalil and Manal, she feels uncomfortable in their house and a friend , represented in an ostrich, visits her whenever she is in danger. Soon, she gets sexually exploited by Khalil and faced with injustice when she complains at the service office that threatens to fire her. Pressure and insomniac nights increase when tension increases between the Egyptian gang and other African groups in her neighborhood. Meanwhile, she decides to buy sedative pills for Khalil that Manal takes by mistake and dies; Aisha feels guilty but continues to work for Khalil despite his perversion. Meanwhile, Abdoun shows suicidal tendencies and asks her to push him off a mountain and she refuses before he disappears without a trace. Aisha tries to cope with her fears and lost battles but when Abdoun appears again after a while; married, the pressure Aisha bears becomes unbearable and turns to anger and push her to explosion.
The story I’m telling is in the place where I spent my childhood and early teenage years. When I returned after years for some visits, I found that an African colony was starting to form in the heart of Cairo, as many came from different countries looking for work, peace or asylum away from war and starvation. They formed their own world with their own terms and rules. Some work hard in under-paid jobs, but others rebel against their inevitable fate of acquiescence, and become outlaws. However, for both sides and their families, just surviving the day is considered heroic.
While riding a microbus there; an African girl with a tired face sat beside me and slept; she woke up frightened and went into hysterical crying. I wondered a lot about that girl’s background; then my character, Aisha, started to answer my questions; a lonely girl who is trapped between the two survival mechanisms of her society is facing the same social pressure from a bigger universe, which is the Egyptian society. Despite living among people who resemble her in color; it is not sufficient to make her feel like she belongs.
She feels alienated, like the ostrich, which is a bird but cannot live with them and cannot fly one meter above the surface of the earth.This is what I want to show in this film by following Aisha's life and capturing the slow effervescence under the surface of her calmness till the point of despair and explosion.
This is the 3rd film I make with director Morad Mostafa following two shorts. This project started when Morad was on a visit to my neighborhood; Ain Shams, which he was a former resident of as a kid. He noticed how it turned into an African colony, through the years. However for me, as I lived there my whole life, I thought that it has always been like this since I can remember and they have always been my neighbors but we knew little about each other or maybe our paths never crossed, I wondered why!
Later, Morad knew what his next film would be about, and it was a thrill for me because as a producer, I am always seeking projects that concern me personally as much as they concern and affect the audience.
And here we are once again sharing the same cinematic ambition and interest in making a film that is real and representative of the moment we live in, translating that into a successful teamwork and making films that speak our minds.
I trust that Morad can make such a film through his sincerity in creating moments and documenting worlds, and his unbiased style of representing the characters and stories. I believe all that, together with the experience I acquired through the years in dealing with the obstacles of making low budget films in Egypt, we can use that to benefit our film.
2021: Khadiga by Morad Mostafa
2020: Henet Ward by Morad Mostafa