North American Premiere
Suspenseful and provocative, Tarik Saleh’s film explores the tension between Islam and the Egyptian state. It’s the story of Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), a young man who has been awarded a scholarship to Al-Azhar, the school and mosque that sits at the centre of Islamic thought. Adam looks forward to a bright future, but there are powerful men with other plans. Soon, he finds himself a pawn in the struggle between State Security agents and radical religious leaders.
Boy from Heaven has the shrewd plotting of a thriller, with intrigue, betrayal, murder, and more. It’s also a fascinating exploration of religion and politics, and the uneasy relationship between the two. Saleh directs with brio and a sure sense of place, and his lead actor is superbly expressive: the wide-eyed Barhom radiates angst and repressed energy, claiming our sympathy from the first moments of the film.
Compelling… an intriguingly damning portrait of the corruption currently hitting Egypt on all levels.”—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
Best Screenplay, Cannes 2022
Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram J. Khoury, Sherwan Haji, Mehdi Dehbi
Sweden/France/Finland
2022
In Arabic with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
There's Still Tomorrow
A critical and box office sensation in Italy, Paola Cortellesi's triumphant directorial debut is the tale of a Roman housewife in 1946, who stands up against the routine sexist abuse she suffers. Funny, heartbreaking and inspiring.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
Credits
Producer
Kristina Åberg, Fredrik Zander
Screenwriter
Tarik Saleh
Cinematography
Pierre Aïm
Editor
Theis Schmidt
Production Design
Roger Rosenberg
Original Music
Krister Linder
Director
Tarik Saleh
Tarik Saleh was one of the top graffiti artists in Stockholm in the 1980s. He directed the documentaries Gitmo: The New Rules of War (2005) and Sacrificio: Who Betrayed Che Guevara (2001) together with Erik Gandini. His film debut Metropia (2009), a dystopian animation, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He directed and wrote the screenplay for The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. He directed episodes of the HBO series Westworld (2018), the Showtime series Ray Donovan, and the action thriller, The Contractor (2022), starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Kiefer Sutherland.
Filmography: Gitmo: The New Rules of War (2005); Metropia (2009); Tommy (2014); The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)