Dina Hamza explores the life of two of the most important Egyptian poets, Salah Jaheen (1930 – 1986) and Fouad Haddad (1927-1985) and their children, who carried out what they started.  

Samia Jaheen, Salah Jaheen’s daughter, recites poetry, while Amin Haddad, Foad Haddad’s son, writes poetry.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Haddad, poet, is the grandson of both belated poets: his mother was the daughter of Salah Jaheen and his father was the son of Fouad Haddad.

The documentary delves into the different generations and the influences they’ve had from Jaheen and Haddad in their work and lives.

“Each of them has a different perspective,” said Hamza “Samia, for instance, didn’t manage to get to know her father while he was alive, since he died when she was six, yet she got to know him later through his work. Amin Haddad managed to live with his father a lot more and Ahmed Haddad didn’t meet either of the poets, yet they still influenced him.”

Aswat won the awards for best documentary film in the national film festival in 2008.

Aswat is Hamza’s third film and second documentary. Her first documentary Roeya (Vision) portrays a blind Sufi singer. In 2009, Hamza worked on a documentary, along with three other directors about the lives of four different youth in Egypt and Germany titled Bas Fee Haga Naksa (But There’s Something Missing). Her last film Dakhel Khareg El Ghorfa (In and Out of the Room) sheds light on the life of a hitman and was screened during the current Recontres de l’image film series at the French Cultural Centre.

Currently, Hamza is working on a documentary of the events that happened in the city of Suez during the uprising in Egypt.

Aswat will air on 21 April at 1am following Youssry Fouad’s show, Akher Kallem (Last Word), and on 22 April at 7pm.