Granddaughter Youssef Chahine wins her grandfather award
Young Egyptian director Sarah El-Shazly won the Best Short Film Award for her Cuban film "Isabel", as part of the Cinema of Tomorrow International Short Film Competition at the Cairo International Film Festival.
Ironically, the award that Sarah's movie won bears the name of the great director Youssef Chahine, who is considered Sarah's grandfather - her mother's maternal uncle Marian Khoury - and the award comes 12 years after Shaheen's departure, as Youssef Chahine died in the summer of 2008.
"Isabel" is a short film produced by the International Film and Television School in Cuba, and it revolves around a little girl named "Isabel". It seems that she has a secret about her relationship with her mother, and by following the daily routine of the child, the director tells us the psychological dimensions of this little girl, mainly dependent On the image, the outward features of the character, and very little dialogue, to express everything that is going on inside Isabelle's mind.
The Cairo Film Festival witnessed the premiere of the film, as it had not previously been released commercially in cinemas and had not participated in previous festivals.
The young director Sarah El-Shazly commented on winning a prize bearing the name of her grandfather, the famous director, saying that she did not expect at all that her film would win an award bearing the name of science from the flags of Arab cinema, noting that she found great interest and welcome in her film from the festival management headed by the festival president, Mohamed Hefzy.
Sarah said in statements to "Sky News Arabia" that she had previously performed in the documentary film "Aki" directed by her mother, producer and director Marian Khoury, and won the best film award last year at the Cairo Film Festival in its previous session.
She explained that she feels very proud that the first prize she achieves in her artistic career is in the name of her grandfather, and that it is also from her native Egypt, amid a standing ovation from the Egyptian filmmakers.
She said that she spent 10 years in Cuba to study directing after graduating from the American University in Paris, and recently returned to Egypt, but she was surprised by the great development that occurred in the form of dealing with women in society and how many have achieved remarkable success in all aspects of life.
She pointed out that in addition to her studies in directing, she continued her passion in writing and directing a number of short films such as "Soma", "Mother", "Isabel" and "Christmas".
She indicated that she was preparing recently for her first feature-length fictional film, called "The Return", in which she discusses the idea of the contradiction in the relationship with the homeland between love and hate.
It should be noted that the 42nd session of the Cairo Film Festival witnessed the screening of more than 90 films, from 40 countries, including 20 films in its first international and international screenings. The festival awarded her to British writer and director Christopher Hampton, in addition to honoring the artist, Mona Zaki, with the Faten Hamama Award for Excellence.
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