Egypt, Arabic - 100 min
Feature Narrative Film
TOTAL BUDGET
US $397,238
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $276,238
CONTACT
saqrhisham@gmail.com
+20 1277706343
Since her husband went to jail, Hala had had to face her suicidal thoughts alone. Her strength has to come from within as society does not help nor forgive a depressed woman, especially if she is a mother.
Hala has been living with fear of abandonment since her father passed away when she was 18. She suffers from a post-natal depression and tries to commit suicide several times but she never goes all the way, she always leaves room for someone to rescue her.
Now her loving husband, who always rescued her from her suicidal thoughts, is facing a trial for a simple mistake at work. Hala is left alone with her depression, her thoughts and a six-month-old daughter. Despite her mental fragility, she needs to find a way to change in order to carry out her duties as a mother and a good wife to her jailed husband. The main difficulty is how to face herself, her fears and her depression now that she has no one to lean on and no moral support, and at the same time, face the reality she lives that includes her husband and daughter.
I made a film about the idea of loss and how one can surprisingly find an inner strength to deal with it. How a normal person who is emotionally fragile can cope with such incomprehensible emotions as anxiety and depression that lead to suicidal thoughts. Personally I went all through these feelings and thoughts, so I started to think: what if the main character was a woman who just had her own child? The society is asking a lot of her especially after being a mother, and having her own child adds a lot more to the illogical fear and anxiety of losing even her newborn girl. These complex emotions and how she finds a way to cope with them is what I am examining in my film.
I had worked with Hisham Saqr previously as an editor on Microphone and Rags and Tatters. I always knew that Hisham would direct one day, and that his work with the likes of Ahmad Abdalla and Ibrahim El Batout would prepare him well for his first film. When I finally got a chance to read the script, I was happily surprised. Not only because it tackles themes that are universal and touching, but more so because of his mature and subtle treatment of the subject. It’s not easy to make a film that begins with an attempted suicide and a struggling marriage, then subtly infuse the narrative with glimpses of life, and ultimately end with an infusion of hope.
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