DÉCOR VIES FOR AWARDS AT THE 41ST EGYPTIAN FILM ASSOCIATION FESTIVAL
Date: 04 February, 2015
Continuing its successful festival tours in Egypt, Ahmad Abdalla’s Décor vies in the 41st Egyptian Film Association Festival (January 31 - February 7, 2015). Competing as one of seven films the festival selected out of 36 Egyptian film productions that were released in 2014, giving a chance for a wider range of audiences to enjoy watching this black-and-white psychological drama.
Décor will screen on Friday, February 6th, 2015, at the Creativity Centre, Cairo Opera House. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Film Critic Magda Khairallah, with the attendance of the film’s scriptwriter and its makers. The awards will be announced at the closing ceremony on Saturday, February 14th, 2015. Besides the Egyptian Film Association Festival, New Century’s film will also contend at the 63rd Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival, which will run from February 27th to March 6th, 2015.
Starring Khaled Abol Naga, Horeya Farghaly and Maged El Kedwany, Décor marks Sherine Diab’s screenwriting debut. Decor is co-written by Sherine with her brother Mohamed Diab and will be distributed in Egypt by Dollar Film.
Filmed entirely in black and white, Décor’s unconventional plot tells the story of Maha, who has always been passionate about films 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 has 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.
Before its release in Egyptian theatres in December 2014, Décor embarked on a successful march across film festivals worldwide. Last October, the film 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. Also, Décor had its Egyptian Premiere at the 36th Cairo International Film Festival as part of its Special Screenings section last November.
In Tunisia, Décor vied within the Official Competition for Feature Films at the 25th Carthage Film Festival. Moreover, the film competed at the 25th Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) as part of its Filmmaker in Focus section, which screened a number of Ahmad Abdalla’s films. Décor has also been part of the 26th Palm Springs International Film Festival in USA and Luxor Egyptian and European Film Festival last January.