A number of films by Egyptian directors will be screened within the upcoming Seattle Arab Film Festival (SAFF), which is scheduled to take place online, between 29 August and 1 September, featuring numerous short films from the Arab world.

"Through the eyes of masterful filmmakers, audiences will encounter a diversity of Arab stories, circumstances, histories, visions, and voices," reads the festival's website. 

The non-competitive festival groups films in four categories: In the Diaspora, Youth in Focus, Family and Culture, and Strong Female Lead.

In the Diaspora will screen four films, including one entry from Egypt, a short film titled Colorblind (Amma Alwan).

Directed by Menna Ekram and feauring Asser Yassin and Laila Sami, the 11-minute-long film was screened in the Short Films Competition at the El Gouna Film Festival 2019.

According to a synopsis released by the GFF, "Colorblind depicts an encounter between two Egyptians in a Victorian cemetery in Bristol. He is a husband and father who is working abroad to support his family, while she is on a two-week vacation that turned into two months. As they begin to learn more about one another, they discover that even though they come from the same country, they have almost nothing in common. The film examines gender and class through the perspectives of its two protagonists."

Amma Alwan (Colorblind) - Trailer (2019) from Menna Ekram on Vimeo.

The Youth in Focus segment of the festival features four short films from Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt, and tackling issues of the young people.

The 18-minutes Egyptian film titled Ghalia sheds light on a "young girl who asks her mother a question about women’s value in society. Her mother begins to reexamine her life and place in the world," reads the SAFF's website.

The film is directed by Ayman Sakr.

Still from Ghalia

Another short by an Egyptian filmmaker is titled Intense Practice to Improve Performance (2017) and will be screened within the Family and Culture segmnt of the festival.

Directed and written by Yasser Shafiey, this comedy drama portrays "a group of workers who achieve success by appeasing bureaucracy, rather than by completing their work," reveals the synopsis posted by the SAFF.

The film participated in the Cairo International Film Festival (2018), where it was nominated to the Youssef Chahin Award for the Best Short Film at the Cinema Of Tomorrow International Competition

Still from Intense Practice to Improve Performance

Two films by Egyptian directors will be featured within the festival's Strong Female Lead segment: This is My Night by Yusuf Noaman and Lama Jat Ashra by Jaylan Auf.

The 15-minutes-long This is My Night focuses on a poor woman who decides to enjoy a day out with her son who suffers from Down syndrome. As she enters a classy Cairo towns, the struggles begin.

In one of the interviews, the director explained that the film talks about hope and pain. It is about two persons representing poor community with one having Down syndrome, hence both are in a difficult position and hve a lot of needs. "They are all simple needs but they face a lot of problems."

On the other hand, Lama Jat Ashra looks into a mother who takes her daughter to the doctor on her 10th birthday. This is when the mother's childhood trauma reemerges.

Still from This is My Night

The Seattle Arab Film Festival is organised by the Northwest Film Forum, a nonprofit film and arts center located in Seattle, USA which history goes back to 1995.

The NFF holds numerous film festivals throughout the year, a few of which have been moved online this year since the physical space is temporarily closed in light of public health concerns around COVID-19.

Seattle Arab Film Festival leaves the choice of payment to the viewers saying "Please pay what you can; proceeds support Seattle Arab Film Festival and NWFF during our closure! We encourage purchasing a ticket for each individual viewing this screening."

For more information regarding the festival and the ticketing, please visit the Seattle Arab Film Festival's website.

Still from Lama Jat Ashra

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