The Egyptian movie Yomeddine (Judgment Day), which has been selected by the Cinematic Professions Syndicate to represent the country for the 2019 Academy Awards list for Best Foreign Language Film category, will locally premiere in Scape cinema in the Upper Egypt governorate of El-Minya on 23 September, three days before its screening in Cairo and rest of the country.

While El-Minya is the location where the middle-aged main character Beshay where born, Yomeddine is about his journey to search for his family after leaving a Leprosy colony.

The film’s main message, according to the filmmakers, is that “when we start seeing people for who they are and not how they look, that's when humanity triumphs over prejudice and stereotypes.”

Yomeddine was nominated by the syndicate for the 91st Oscars with 26 votes out of 41, while Akhdar Yabis’s Withered Green was voted for by 12 members and Photocopy received one vote.

“We are incredibly honored to [have been nominated] to represent Egypt in this year's Best Foreign Language Oscar race. Thanks to everyone who supported the film and we can't wait to share it with you in cinemas across Egypt in two weeks,” the filmmakers stated through the film official website on Thursday.

The film will be reviewed by the Academy jury and the final entries to the Best Foreign Language category of Oscars will be announced later this year.

Directed by Abu Bakr Shawky and produced by Dina Emam, Yomeddine competed at the 71st Cannes Film Festival last May, making an impression on its screening.

Shawky’s first film Al-Mostaamara (The Colony, 2009), a 15-minute documentary on one of Egypt’s leper colonies, was followed by The Road to Atalia (2010) and Martyr Friday (2011).

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