Saturday, January 19, 2008

Seventh Heaven

By Roshan Kumar Mogali - Pune Newsline - Pune, India

Friday, January 18, 2007

Since 2004, when he made his first film, Egyptian Director Saad Hendawy has made seven short films and six documentaries.

He is inspired by Sufism and after conducting a long research on the subject he decided to make a movie that tells not only the story of love, relationships and secrets, but also tells the story of Sufism itself.

“The movie scenario in Egypt,” he says “is fairly moderate with only 40 to 45 commercial movies being released each year”.

Hendawy shot his movie Seventh Heaven during the time of Ramadan in old Cairo. The movie is about the relationship between a lady and a male dancer.

His films are not really commercial, they in fact cater to human interest and feelings. They are about the needs that one feels obliged to fulfill, needs of the body and the soul. Perhaps that is why his pictures have a spiritual touch to them.

His mother who was a fan of Indian movies made him fall in love with the dance and music in them. Drawing similarities between Indian and Egyptian movies Saad says, “Both India and Egypt have a very old culture and the stories that the films of each country tells is not dissimilar.”

He got his degree in film direction from the Higher Institute of Cinema, Egypt. He is currently writing the script of his third movie.

31st CIFF (Cairo International Film Festival 2007) awarded a Special Mention to Seventh Heaven
"For its vivid portrayal of a life affirming spirituality"
http://www.cairofilmfest.org/Prizes/default.aspx

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Seventh Heaven
By Roshan Kumar Mogali - Pune Newsline - Pune, India

Friday, January 18, 2007

Since 2004, when he made his first film, Egyptian Director Saad Hendawy has made seven short films and six documentaries.

He is inspired by Sufism and after conducting a long research on the subject he decided to make a movie that tells not only the story of love, relationships and secrets, but also tells the story of Sufism itself.

“The movie scenario in Egypt,” he says “is fairly moderate with only 40 to 45 commercial movies being released each year”.

Hendawy shot his movie Seventh Heaven during the time of Ramadan in old Cairo. The movie is about the relationship between a lady and a male dancer.

His films are not really commercial, they in fact cater to human interest and feelings. They are about the needs that one feels obliged to fulfill, needs of the body and the soul. Perhaps that is why his pictures have a spiritual touch to them.

His mother who was a fan of Indian movies made him fall in love with the dance and music in them. Drawing similarities between Indian and Egyptian movies Saad says, “Both India and Egypt have a very old culture and the stories that the films of each country tells is not dissimilar.”

He got his degree in film direction from the Higher Institute of Cinema, Egypt. He is currently writing the script of his third movie.

31st CIFF (Cairo International Film Festival 2007) awarded a Special Mention to Seventh Heaven
"For its vivid portrayal of a life affirming spirituality"
http://www.cairofilmfest.org/Prizes/default.aspx

No comments: