About the meeting with Emirati director Nawaf Al-Janahi, Rizk told Sky News Arabia: “The film is based on a short story titled “Who Deserves”, which is one of my published writings and attracted Al-Janahi’s attention to turn it into a short film.
He continues: “From here, the initial conversations between us began in 2005 until reaching the final conception of the film, which the director rewrote with a script that preserves the warmth and vitality of the story and the prison of isolation that the hero endures, trying to recover his lost time in the place that was affected by the hand of change.”
As for what the story tells, the Egyptian writer says: “During the film’s short and intense moments, the story of an old man who fights death is presented by retrieving his memories about a place that was previously a desert, then urban life expanded to it, thus reconstructing the place from the details of time.”
Rizk has produced a prolific production of stories, poetry, novels, theatre, criticism and screenwriting, including the book “Chasing Absence. Critical Readings”, the collection of short stories “For My Heart Is Its Enchanting Blackness” and “Rain in Carmina Burana”.
The film previously won the Jury Prize at the International Interior Film Festival, which was held in the Sultanate of Oman in 2022, before winning its last award at the Saudi Film Festival, which was held from May 4-11.
More loneliness movies.
About the spirit of the film and the goal of showing it, it was stated on the website of director Nawaf Al-Janahi that perhaps because loneliness is the most common struggle that man faces every day, especially in big cities, the film tries through the magical capabilities of cinema to explore this matter, and we still need more films about loners in the world.
Al-Janahi previously presented the film “Mirrors of Silence” about loneliness as well.
15 minutes of silent cinema
The film is only 15 minutes long, and without dialogue, but relies on image, rhythm and music, with the participation of a team of several nationalities, including Emirati director and producer Nawaf Al-Janahi, Egyptian writer Mamdouh Rizk, Portuguese photographer Ricardo Prats, Lebanese editor Ali Salloum, and Bahraini production director Nouf Al-Sibai. .
The film is starring Yehia Abdel Rasoul, Michaela Carrizo and Ahmed Saeed, with original music by musician Ibrahim Al Amiri, and sound design by Taha Al Ajami.
International festivals and awards
The film “A Place in Time” participated in several international film festivals, the first was the Chicago International Film Festival 2020 in the United States, while its first Arab screening came at the Ismailia International Film Festival 2021 in Egypt, then the Imdgassen International Film Festival in Algeria, which took place during From the 10th to the 14th of May.
As for the awards, he won the Jury Prize at the International Interior Film Festival 2022 in the Sultanate of Oman, and a special mention to the film director at the Bahrain Film Festival 2022, in addition to his last award, which is the Golden Palm for the Gulf Short Narrative Film at the Saudi Film Festival 2023.
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