Title: East Of Noon
Director: Hala Elkoussy
Red Sea Section: New Vision
Logline: Set in an industrial wasteland in the middle of nowhere, East of Noon is a folktale in which a bunch of brilliant youngsters finds ways to survive the autocracy of a childish tyrant whose currency is lottery tickets and sugar cubes. Aspiring musician Abdo divides his time between digging graves and creating music using household implements. Along with his Nunna, he is plotting his escape to a wider world while scheming to survive the everyday tyranny of the enclave boss, Master Shawky.
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Panelists: Hala Elkoussy
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Key quotes: On her inspiration, Elkoussy, whose previous film, 2017’s Cactus Flower, was her directing debut, said, “I think the last 15 years in the whole of the Arab world, we were were kind of propelled into posing ourselves these kind of questions as to what makes good governments, what makes change, what is freedom? By living these experiences and self-reflecting, I kind of almost touched it in a personal way that youth is the propeller for change, but also this energy that youth brings is always kind of discouraged and downplayed and criticized, and it almost feels like — by not just making this film, but the film before — I always want to kind of put them back in their rightful place… In Arabic we say that the future is for the youth and without this kind of unchained energy the world would not move forward. I guess this is why I always have a young character in my films.”