Skip to main content
19B film image

19B

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

In Cairo, a lonesome, impoverished elderly property guard whose name no one seems to remember (played by the distinguished Sayed Ragab) spends his days enjoying old-fashioned Egyptian hits on the radio, caring for stray cats and dogs, and watching over the same run-down villa he has been tending to for the past forty years, even though its affluent owners have vacated long ago. His peaceful, orderly little world is turned upside down when an opportunistic parking attendant newly released from prison, Nasr (Ahmed Khaled Saleh, in turns brutal and vulnerable) bullies his way into occupying the property– drawing our nameless protagonist’s fears and sorrows to the surface. With no recourse to seek help from the police, the old guard and his feisty daughter Yara (Nahed El Sebaï) take matters into their own hands. Anchored to the villa’s decaying splendor with a compellingly classical play-like story structure, this sixth feature from acclaimed writer-director Ahmad Abdalla (Décor) provides a keen reflection on class issues, fear, and isolation in modern Egypt.

 

Best Arab Film, Cinematography, International Critics’ Prize, Cairo Film Festival 2022

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Sayed Ragab, Ahmed Khaled Saleh and Nahed El Sebai, Fadwa Abed, Magdy Atwan, Maher Khamis

Credits
Country of Origin

Egypt

Year

2022

Series

Panorama

Language

In Arabic with English subtitles

18+
95 min
Award Winners Drama

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Yara Goubran

Screenwriter

Ahmad Abdalla

Cinematography

Mustafa El Kashef

Editor

Sara Abdallah

Original Music

Youssef Sadek

Director

Ahmad Abdalla headshot

Ahmad Abdalla

Ahmad Abdalla is a critically acclaimed and award-winning Egyptian filmmaker. He directed his first feature film, Heliopolis in 2009, followed by the award-winning film, Microphone, which was selected at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) as one of the best 100 Arabic films in history, and toured several film festivals around the world, reaping more than 20 international awards. His film EXT/Night won the Best Film Award at the Malmo Arab Film Festival (MAFF), the Jury Award at the Luxor International Film Festival, alongside four other awards at the Egyptian National Film Festival. Abdalla was also selected as a jury member in a number of prestigious film festivals including the Carthage Film Festival in 2012, BFI London Film Festival in 2014, and Dubai International Film Festival in 2017.

Filmography: Heliopolis (2009); Microphone (2010); Rags and Tatters (2013); Décor (2014); Leil Khargi (2018)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

There's Still Tomorrow

Dir. Paola Cortellesi
118 min

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.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Way, My Way

Dir. Bill Bennett
93 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Stand

Dir. Christopher Auchter
95 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Resident Orca

Dir. Sarah Sharkey Pearce & Simon Schneider
97 min

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.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

No Other Land

Dir. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor
96 min

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.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Misericordia

Dir. Alain Guiraudie
103 min

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.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre