A shot from Egyptian director Morad Mostafa s latest short film I Promise You Paradise Eissa
The film will compete in the French festival's 62nd Semaine de la Critique (Critics’ Week) between 17 May and 25.
Critics’ Week’s artistic director, Ava Cahen, unveiled the line-up for the short film competition on Wednesday, combining 10 films.
Written by Mostafa and Sawsan Yusuf, the film features Kenyi Marcellino and Kenzy Mohamed.
I Promise You Paradise follows the story of Eissa, a 17-year-old African immigrant in Egypt, who strives to beat the clock to save his loved ones after a violent incident.
The film’s producers include Sawsan Yusuf, Margaux Lorier, Baho Bakhsh and Safei Eldin Mahmoud, with Ahmed Gamal and Mohamed Ismail serving as executive producers.
The film’s crew also includes cinematographer Mostafa El-Kashef, editor Mohamad Mamdouh, art director Eman Elalby and sound designer Moustafa Shabban.
Mostafa thanked the festival’s organisers and his crew in a viral Facebook post.
Morad Mostafa, 35, has been touring the world in recent years with his first three short films: Henet Ward, What We Don't Know About Mariam and Khadiga, which have competed in over 100 festivals across the globe and earned him dozens of awards, including Oscar and BAFTA qualifying awards.
Mostafa previously worked as an assistant director for many important names, including Hala Khalil, Sherif El-Bendary, Mohamed Diab and Ayten Amin in her 2020 Cannes-selected feature Souad.
Last year, Mostafa was invited to attend the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival among the 10 directors selected for the La Fabrique Cinéma programme for his debut feature film, Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore.
Another Arabic film competing at Critics’ Week this year is Amjad Al-Rasheed's Inshallah Walad (Inshallah A Boy) which was announced earlier this week in the long feature category. It will be Jordan's first-ever film to premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival.
The Critics’ Week’s short film selection was unveiled on Wednesday as follows:
Arkhé (Mexico), directed by Armando Navarro
Boléro (France), directed by Nans Laborde-Jourdàa
Contadores (Spain), directed by Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe
Corpos Cintilantes (Portugal), directed by Inês Teixeira
Paradis (Egypt, France, Qatar), directed by Morad Mostafa
Crocodile (Poland), directed by Dawid Bodzak
The Purple Season (France), directed by Clémence Bouchereau
The Real Truth about the Fight (Croatia-Spain), directed by Andrea Slaviček
Via Dolorosa (France), directed by Rachel Gutgarts
Walking With Her into the Night (China), directed by Hui SHU
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