Egypt, Arabic, French, English - 75 min
Feature Documentary
Total Budget
US $300,000
Confirmed Financing
US $30,000
Contacts
Sara Shazli
sshazli@hotmail.com
00201227936525
Marianne Khoury,
mkhoury@mifegypt.com
Dima Al-Joundi
crystalfbis@gmail.com
Sara is Egyptian and is 28-years-old. While she goes through her family’s archives, Sara observes the multitude of nannies who carried her in her childhood. Among all the different faces, Woody is the only one she remembers well. The few archives she finds of Woody take her back in time. Sara is a 10 year-old introvert who lives in solitary with Woody and her absent workaholic mother. Day by day, Sara grows more attached to Woody, who begins to fill the void left by her mother, until she one day receives her Canadian visa to immigrate in the hopes of living a better life. This moment of happiness for Woody is Sara’s first heartbreak. 20 years later, Sara still hasn’t forgotten Woody and decides to look for her. She only knows that Woody lived in Vancouver, had gotten married, and became a nurse. Is this information still valid? What is Woody’s real name? Will she be able to find her? From Egypt to Canada, Sara takes us on a journey to find the woman who was once her mother. She will confront her biological mother before searching for her childhood tenderness. Will her mother recognize her absence during Sara’s childhood? If Sara manages to find Woody, will Woody have the same feelings towards her?
Since I began making films, I noticed that the stories I want to tell have to do with my conflicting relationship with my mother. Her absence during my childhood and the lack of affection on her part have affected me greatly. Searching for Woody is a total submersion in this subject: a film about childhood traumas in order to heal from them once and for all. To begin with, I have decided to watch the archives of my family in order to dig deeper into the past in the hopes of finding answers. I found myself looking for Woody, the nanny who raised me when I was a child in Cairo. Woody was Ethiopian and she was in Egypt illegally. In the eyes of the people, she was the nanny or the maid. To me, she was my mother. When Woody finally got her visa to immigrate to Canada, I wasn’t able to share her joy even though I knew she deserved a better life. The abandonment I felt made me grow up. Today, I feel the need to look for her, but before doing so, I will have to confront my biological mother. I consider this film to be original and unique. A film about a personal quest, mixing archives, images of the present, fiction, and feature-hybrid documentary.
With a delicate editing of all these different elements, Searching for Woody can be a very powerful film, dealing with important themes such as childhood traumas, motherhood and the price of emancipation.
Misr International Films (MIF) has a longstanding history of content production, which began in 1972 and continues today. With a philosophy instilled by the late Youssef Chahine, MIF has carefully chosen its productions ranging from award-winning features and documentaries to mega blockbuster Arab films and TV series. Searching for Woody by Sara Shazli is MIF latest hybrid project. Sara joined MIF in 2020 not only as a family member but also as a filmmaker.
2021: Back Home by Sara Shazli
2020: The Money by Saeed El Marouk
2020: Mousa by Peter Mimi
2020: The Black Box by Mahmoud Kamel
2019: Let's Talk by Marianne Khoury
2016: Sins of The Flesh by Khaled El Hagar
2015: The Past Will Return by Dina Hamza
2011: Settou Zad, My First Passion by Heba Yousry
2010: Zelal by Marianne Khoury, Mustapha Hasnaoui
2007: Chaos by Youssef Chahine, Khaled Youssef
2004: Alexandria, New York by Youssef Chahine
2004: Women's Chit Chat by Hala Galal
2003: Lady of The Palace by Samir Habshy
2002: Women Who Loved Cinema (1&2) by M. Khoury
2001: Silence We’re Rolling by Youssef Chahine
2000: The City by Yousry Nasrallah
1999: The Time of Laura by Marianne Khoury
1998: Date Wine by Radwan El Kashef
1997: Destiny by Youssef Chahine
1995: On Boys, Girls And The Veil by Yousry Nasrallah
1988: Summer Thefts by Yousry Nasrallah
1982: An Egyptian Story by Youssef Chahine
1978: Chafika And Metwalli by Aly Badrakhan
1976: Return of The Prodigal Son by Youssef Chahine
1972: The Sparrow by Youssef Chahine
1963: Saladin by Youssef Chahine
1953: Only Women by Youssef Chahine