Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
US $50,000
CONTACT
hammam.sokhn@gmail.com
Seven women are trapped in enclosed, stifling spaces.
Seven women are trapped in enclosed, stifling spaces. The streets are erupting; homes, shops and alleyways lie anxiously in wait. Communications are shut down, answers offered only through TV screens. Our characters attempt to escape their current confines, perhaps desperately, perhaps half-heartedly. In the end, they are all forced to adapt, caught up in their own individual, extraordinary battles.
This film is an extension of a personal experience that I have been through between the 26th and the 28th of January, 2011, with a group of women, one of whom was writer Rasha Azab – my partner in the scriptwriting process. Through the film, we attempt to process unique moments that had an unprecedented, unmatched impact on our consciousness, moments where bridges were created, merely by chance, between the open squares and closed spaces, moments where all parties involved were determined on excluding women, using harassment, violence, intimidation and even blackmail. Our stories may seem ordinary in other contexts, but they represent women’s defiance and fight for their very existence. Before the concept for this project was conceived, I worked as an assistant director on over two dozen documentary and fiction films and series. This extensive experience gave me the insight to know that this project had to take narrative form. Now, we have accomplished 50% of the shooting, edited 90% of the first story and gained enough perspective to realize a deep, profound treatment. What remains is 6 days of shooting before going into post-production. Seven years in the making, Hammam Sokhn is finally in the home stretch.