Cactus Flower by Hala El-Koussy (Photo: Still from Cactus Flower)
The Egyptian film Cactus Flower has been selected to compete within the Muhr feature section of the 14th Dubai International Film Festival, which opens on 6 December.
Cactus Flower is the feature-length debut for award-winning artist and director Hala El-Koussy who has previously created short films.
Starring Menha El-Batrawy, Arfa Abdelrasoul, Salma Sami, Mostafa Darwish, and Farah Youssef, the film had its world premiere at the 46th edition of the Rotterdam International Film Festival last January, and is the only Egyptian entry this year at DIFF.
El-Koussy, born in 1974, studied Business Administration at the American University in Cairo before traveling to London in 2001 for a master’s degree in Image and Communication.
In 2010 she won the Hubert Bals Fund Project Development Fund from the Rotterdam Film Festival, as well as the Abraaj Capital Prize from Dubai.
In addition to a number of solo exhibitions, El-Koussy has joined tens of international group exhibitions in Europe and the Middle East since 2003.
Her works are part of collections around the world including London’s Tate Modern Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam.
The Muhr competition is a prestigious section of the annual festival and features films originating from the Arab world.
Short link: