Written and directed by Omar El-Zohairy and co-written by Ahmed Amer, Feathers premiered at the 74th Cannes Film Festival (2021) where it won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize and the International Federation of Film Critics Award for best first feature in parallel sections.

It went on to garner numerous major awards across different festivals, including: the Aleksandar Sasa Petrovic Grand Prix at the Auteur Film Festival (2021), Best International Feature at the Calgary International Film Festival (2021), four major awards at the Carthage Film Festival (2021), including the grand prize, and two awards at the El-Gouna Film Festival (2021), among numerous other prizes and nominations. 

The 112-minute film stars Demyana Nassar, Samy Bassouny, Fady Mina Fawzy, Abu Sefen Nabil Wesa and Mohamed Abdel-Hady.

“Feathers is a tale of scathing social satire, wry laughter and unsettling oddity,” reveals the film’s synopsis. 

“When a magic trick goes awry at a children’s birthday party, the authoritative father of the family turns into a chicken. The mysterious transformation sets the family off to a tragically funny adventure of self-discovery to survive without the patriarch.”

The Joburg Film Festival took place between 31 January and 5 February.