QASS WE LAZQ (CUT & PASTE)

Egypt/2006/Arabic dialogue with English subtitles/Colour/35mm/105 mins

Hala Khalil, whose first feature, Ahla al awkat (The Best of Times), received so much acclaim from Arabic media, returns with another story that deals with young people looking for ways to achieve their dreams. It’s the story of Gamilla (Hanan Turk), whose only way to emigrate from Egypt to New Zealand is to marry an Egyptian man, Youssef, she hardly knows and whom she met in unlikely circumstances. The only common ground between them is that he is also looking for ways to leave Egypt and is finding it difficult to meet New Zealand’s immigration criteria. One of the best Egyptian movies this year, Cut & Paste is quick to pinpoint the pain of its characters and to understand their motives and needs. Like most Egyptian films, it is one for the whole family.

HALA KHALIL was born in 1967 in Egypt and graduated in directing from the Cairo Academy in 1992. Her award-winning short films include The Kite, and she made her feature directing debut with The Best of Times (2004), which won awards from the Arab Film Festival, Rotterdam, the Rabat Film Festival and the Egyptian Film Critics’ Association.

Director & Scriptwriter: Hala Khalil
Producer: Youssef El Deeb
Cinematographer: Tarek Al-Telmisany
Editor: Khaled Marey
Composer: Tamer Karawan
Cast: Hanan Turk, Sherif Mounir, Fathy Abdel Wahab, Marwa Mahran, Sawsan Badr