Skip to main content
Draw Me Egypt film image' close on smiling woman

Draw Me Egypt: Doaa El-Adl, a Stroke of Freedom

Portraits

This event has passed

Doaa el-Adl is one of the most prominent of the very few female cartoonists in the Arab world. As the first woman to win the prestigious Journalistic Distinction in Caricature, el-Adl is a force for change in the male-dominated world of Egyptian political cartoonists. This documentary is a vibrant and eye-opening exposé of the inherent dangers and challenges faced by graphic artists in this profession: a rebellious critic of patriarchy, Doaa el-Adl courageously faces daily critique, censorship, intimidation, and death threats for her art.

Egyptian director Nada Riyadh brings el-Adl‘s most famous works to life in a creative and exciting mix of documentary, cartoon, and animation. Pushing the boundaries of freedom in an often restrictive society, el-Adl uses her talent to critique violence against women and advocate for women’s rights, to inspire, and to bring change in Egyptian society.

This film will be preceded by two shorts: Facing the Storm: The Indigenous Response to Climate Change (Episode 1 Mazaska Talks) and The Smallest Power, together showcasing voices for change around the world.

 

Presented by

Media Partner

Community Partner

       

Director
Featuring

Doaa El-Adl

Credits
Country of Origin

Belgium/France/Luxembourg

Year

2023

Language

In Arabic with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
Content Warning

Sexual language

PG

Open to youth!

52 min
Animation Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice U18 May Attend Women Directors
ARTE France, VRT, RTBF

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Salma Abdalla, Sigrid Dyekjaer

Producer

Hanne Phlypo, Estelle Robin You, Marion Guth, François Le Gall, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix

Screenwriter

Nada Riyadh, Vincent Coen, Guillaume Vandenberghe

Cinematography

Karen Vázquez Guadarrama

ANIM

L’Incroyable Studio

Editor

Geert Veuskens, Frédéric Fichefet, Karima Saïdi, Lenka Fillnerova

Original Music

Catherine Kontz

Nada Riyadh headshot; Draw Me Egypt director

Nada Riyadh

Nada Riyadh is a film director/producer based in Cairo, Egypt. Her debut documentary film Happily Ever After premiered at IDFA in 2016. Her short fiction Fakh (The Trap) was selected for Semaine de la Critique at Cannes in 2019. Nada co-founded the Cairo-based production company Felucca Films, aiming to help filmmakers from the MENA region explore and shape their own personal voices. She is now in post-production of her second feature documentary, Land of Women, co-directed with Ayman El Amir.

Filmography: Happily Ever After (2016); Grenzenlos (2018); The Brink of Dreams (2024)

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

Frankenstein

Dir. Guillermo del Toro
149 min

Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro might have been made for each other. The movie does not disappoint, a ripping yarn of grand adventure, spectacle, hubris, passion and XXL body parts, a tale of the fantastic that rings the imagination. Screening in 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Dir. Göran Hugo Olsson
240 min

Drawing on 30 years of television archives, Göran Hugo Olsson relates the early history of the state of Israel, as reported by Swedish filmmakers, politicians and journalists. "An astonishing, invaluable document." William Mullally, The National

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Ballad of a Small Player

Dir. Edward Berger
105 min

Colin Farrell stars in this noir film about a gambler running out of luck in Macau, from the director of Conclave and All Quiet on the Western Front. Tilda Swinton, Fala Chen and Deannie Yip costar.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Woman in the Dunes

Dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara
147 min

Teshigahara's collaboration with novelist Kōbō Abe's is vividly strange, erotic and unsettling allegory about an amateur entymologist who is himself ensnared in a trap he only dimly understands. Screening in 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Checkpoint Zoo

Dir. Joshua Zeman
107 min

The amazing true story of the rescue of thousands of animals trapped on the frontline at an Ecopark when Russia invades Ukraine in 2022.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Predators

Dir. David Osit
96 min

"Punk'd for pedophiles." That's what Jimmy Kimmel called Chris Hansen's true crime/reality TV show, To Catch a Predator (2004-07). Two decades on, David Osit examines why the show made such an impact, for good or ill, and sits down with Hansen himself.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre