Egypt, Canada, Arabic - 90 min
mark@figleafstudios.com
A relationship haunted with the ghosts of the past and threatened by the unforeseen future, between a man who becomes a drug addict; being burdened by tough life situations, and his strong-headed wife who struggles to improve her life course to have a better one. “The Last Man” is an observational documentary following the lives of a couple on the periphery of society.
During college, I couldn't cope with the rigid forms I was expected to study as they weren't aligned with my ambitions as a filmmaker, so I decided to quit. And by doing this I embraced my marginalized conditions of being the non-educated, I felt this exclusion like losing your social class. But then, doing films became my personal way to learn and study. I became a filmmaker, my interest was to do films concerned by the marginalized and the excluded. Not only because I live in a marginal neighborhood or come from a low-middle class family, but because I suffered from the same emotions. My film takes place in Karmooz, an underprivileged neighborhood in Alexandria, where my mom was born. I was born & raised in Agamy, a district very similar to Karmooz. This shared background and connection allowed me to identify with my protagonists. I was able to understand the feelings and sentiments of Nashwa and Hamdy on a deeper level. I know how hard life can get in such places, the places that were denied by the society and in turn deny the existence of different people, like Nashwa and Hamdy. Personally, I've never had any success in any of my past relationships. The concept of love and marital commitment have become dubious and unclear to me. As a result, when I got closer to Hamdy and Nashwa, I was contemplating the foundation of their love and why they stayed together in a relationship. As what we call a romantic relationship between man and woman can't be fulfilled unless there are more complicated elements involved.
Fig Leaf Studios was established in 2005, focusing on the work of emerging filmmakers, quickly rising as one of the most prominent independent production companies in the region. Fig Leaf recently produced “I am Afraid to Forget Your Face” directed by Sameh Alaa, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and also produced films that were selected in many prominent film festivals, such as: the Berlinale, Sundance, Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, and BFI among others, including recent films like “Souad” directed by Ayten Amin (Cannes 2020, Berlinale & Tribeca 2021 selection) and “Captains of Zaatari” directed by Ali Elaraby (Sundance 2021 selection). In 2015, Fig Leaf studios also established “Cinedelta”, an Independent Documentary Film School that aims to create opportunities for young filmmakers through exchanges with international film experts.