Sobyan wa banat
Egypt / France,
1995, 73 min
Shown in 1996
CREDITS
- dir
-
Yousry Nasrallah
- prod
-
Gabriel Khoury, Humbert Balsan
- scr
-
Yousry Nasrallah
- cam
-
Samir Bahsan
- editor
-
Tamer Khedr
- source
-
MISR International Films
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Shown with Our Heedless Wars.
OTHER
Yousry Nasrallah examines the hijah, or veil (an issue also examined in Douce France, SFIFF 1996), in relation to its complex and varied meanings to contemporary young Egyptians. Nasrallah writes, “I think I have managed to keep from falling into the obvious trap of passing arrogant judgments on a phenomenon that continues to grow in importance.” However, the young men and women he engages in relaxed, introspective conversations reveal that their pursuit of happiness is obscured by messages mixed by eros and economics. Young men, their marriages delayed due to the poor economy, comment on the schizophrenia of their position—desiring to be with women, but not with the women they will marry. Similarly, young women speak of wearing the veil to deflect unwanted attention and instead attract husbands who will see them as pious. Perhaps, as one woman declares, the veil itself has no meaning; what matters finally for these young people is the need to uncover their way within a particularly complicated sociopolitical moment.
—Kathy Geritz
FACTOID #175
In 1967, two years prior to her death, the Festival honored Judy Garland in the first (according to the program note) American homage of her work. Garland was unable to attend.
