Egyptian musical theatre company Fabrica won the award for the best Music Video during the ninth annual MoziMotion – iPhone Film Festival, held in Hilversum, the Netherlands between 5 and 13 October.

Fabrica’s award comes for their video "Mercury Rising: A Queen Tribute", released by the company in January 2019 (a few months after "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released in theatres) and on their YouTube channel on 25 February.

The video is a medley of the songs by the famed band. As the actors sing, the camera follows them through the theatre backstage, its changing rooms and corridors, all the way to the stage.

“It shows that they [Fabrica] are theatre actors,” said MoziMotion co-founder Ruben Kazantsev in a video announcing the competition winners posted at the Mobile Movie Days Facebook page.

Kazantsev underlined that several aspects captured the jury’s attention including the fact that it is “a continuous camera roll, it’s a one take,” referring to 90 percent of the movie. “The acting is brilliant, wardrobe change is brilliant. It captures you all the way through.”

According to Kazantsev’s post on his Facebook page back in July, the ninth edition of the competition saw 4,000 film entries from over 100 countries, setting a new record in the event’s history.

The awardees of this year’s MoziMotion Film Festival included categories such as Music Video, Music Video - Student Film, Documentary, Film, and Student Film. The competition also awarded the Grand Prize for the best film.

Fabrica’s video "Mercury Rising: A Queen Tribute" was directed by Mohamed Koushi, with art direction and choreography by Omar Warda.

Music arrangement was prepared by Mohab Kaddah and included Fabrica singers: sopranos Alia Khaled, Nardine Reda, Farida Tamer; altos Hana Afifi, Laila Ashraf, Nathalie Alain; tenors Ali Ballout, Adel Badawy, Omar Warda; basses Amir Zarkani, Mohab Kaddah and Mina Sami.

The video was shot at the Falaki Theatre (American University in Cairo) and recorded in Blue Mango Studios (Heliopolis, Cairo), under the music supervision of Neveen Allouba, Egyptian soprano and the Fabrica manager.

Fabrica is a musical theatre company that was founded in 2013 by Egyptian soprano Neveen Allouba and Mohamed Abou Elkheir to develop the performing arts scene through its innovative projects and trainings.

The MoziMotion was launched in 2010 by Ruben Kazantsev, “a filmmaker for other filmmakers” as stated by the festival’s Facebook page, adding that the event aims at “giving artists an avenue to show off their gifts to the world by simply using their talents, creativity, and their iPhone.”

The annual event takes place alongside Motalks - Mobile Movie Days, Dutch Media Week and other mobile technology events held in Hilversum, northern city in the Netherlands between 5 and 13 October.

Submissions to the MoziMotion are accepted from all around the world for the films shot by a mobile device such as iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Nokia, HTC, GoPro, etc.

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