FILMMAKERS, CRITICS AND MEDIA FIGURES CELEBRATE THE PREMIERE OF DÉCOR

In celebration of Décor’s release in Egyptian theaters, New Century Production held the film’s premiere in City Stars cinema in Nasr City. The star-studded event was attended by the film’s cast and a hefty number of celebrities, film stars and media figures.

The screening was also attended by Décor’s cast and crew, including Khaled Abol Naga, Horeya Farghaly, Atef Youssef, Yara Goubran, Screenwriters Mohamed Diab and Sherine Diab, director Ahmed Abdalla and Ahmed Badawy, General Manager of Dollar Film and New Century Production.

Two hours prior to Décor’s premiere, New Century Production held a special screening at Zawya, Odeon cinema, Downtown with the attendance of the film’s director Ahmad Abdalla. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with Abdalla who answered the questions shared by the attendees. He commented that his collaboration with a giant slate such as New Century Production marks an important milestone in his career. He also pointed that Ahmed Badawy, General Manager of New Century Production, received his idea of making the film in black and white with great zeal and instantly approved it.

“New Century was very cooperative with us and agreed to take black-and-white test shots for the three stars during the casting. These scenes were screened at Odeon cinema for a full viewing experience and the result was marvelous and the actors had such awesome chemistry,” added Ahmed Abdalla.

Filmed entirely in black and white, Décor’s unconventional plot tells the story of Maha, who has always been passionate about film and who, as a set designer, has become an expert at creating imaginary worlds. Under immense pressure at work, Maha sights another life on the horizon and begins slipping between realities-one resembling the film set she’s designed and the other her supposed real life. These two worlds are represented by the characters Sherif and Mustafa. As Maha grows ever more entangled in each, the border between the real and imagined becomes blurred. Maha walks a fine line between her parallel lives, and must decide for the first time what she truly desires.

Starring Khaled Abol Naga, Horeya Farghaly, and Maged El Kedwany, Décor marks Sherine Diab’s screenwriting debut. Décor is co-written by Sherine with her brother Mohamed Diab and will be distributed in Egypt by Dollar Film.

Before its release across Egyptian theaters, Décor embarked on a festival tour across the world. Last November, Ahmad Abdalla’s Décor landed its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, which is one of the largest European festivals screening hundreds of films from around the world every year. Last November, Décor was also screened at the 36th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) within Special Screenings section. Concurrently, New Century Production rolled out the official poster of the film during its participation at CIFF.

Décor has contended within the Official Competition - Feature Films at the 25th Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia and took part in the 25th Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) within the Filmmaker in Focus section. The section highlights Ahmad Abdalla’s films, which were screened on the festival’s silver screens.