ZELAL by Marianne KHOURY and Mustapha HASNAOUI

90 minutes, 2010

Production : Misr International Films / Egypte

“Zelal” is an often frightening journey, plunging into the daily lives of patients at two of Cairo’s psychiatric hospitals. By closely following these men and women, left to their own devices in a labyrinthine world reminiscent of concentration camps, with no hope of return, the film is a portrait of contemporary Egyptian society seen through its murkiest aspects.

Marianne KHOURY and Mustapha HASNAOUI
Marianne KHOURY is a director and producer. Having studied at Cairo’s American University and read Economics at Oxford, she moved very quickly into the world of cinema. For more than 20 years she collaborated closely with the Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. She made her first documentary “The Time of Laura” in 1999, followed by “Women who Loved Cinema” in 2002, two films about the protests of rebellious and pioneering women in Egypt which received critical acknowledgement. Mustapha HASNAOUI is a director. His work is characterised by documentaries on social subjects and family histories. He also has a particular interest in the life of socially committed composers, with films like “Max Deutsch, a rebel teacher” (2006) and “Essyad, musician” (1994). Among his other films are “Margaret Garner” (2006), based on an opera by Tony Morrison about racial segregation in the US. He often contributes to Arte’s magazine programme “Métropolis”.