Director Ayten Amin's debut feature film, Villa 69, will be screened in the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which opened on 24 March and will run until 7 April, as part of the World Vision selection.

The festival is one of Asia's biggest cinematic events, and is considered one of the most significant destinations for filmmakers and film enthusiasts alike.

Villa 69 was previously awarded the Special Jury Award at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Film Festival. It premiered in Egypt as part of the 6th Panorama of the European Film in November 2013, and was later screened commercially in numerous movie theatres across the country.

The film is also the first by screenwriter Muhammad El-Hajj, and Mahmoud Ezzat, who co-wrote the script.

It received three awards at the Egyptian Catholic Centre for Cinema awards in March: best actor for Khaled Abu El-Naga, best cinematography for Hossam Shahin and a certificate for actress Heba Youssry.

The film also received the highest number of awards at the 40th annual Egyptian Film Association Festival: best debut work for Ayten Amin, best leading actor for Khaled Abu El-Naga, best supporting actor for Omar El-Ghandour, best supporting actress for Heba Youssry, best editing for Emad Maher and a certificate for art director Shahira Nassef for her impressive work on the film's production set.

Villa 69explores themes of intimacy and illness through the life of its protagonist, Hussein (Abu El-Naga), who leads a lonely life with which he is content until his past catches up with him after his sister and her grandson come to visit.



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