The Yacoubian Building Live and in Living Color
Finally, the film adaptation of Ala'a al-Aswany's smash-hit novel, The Yacoubian Building, has been released in Egypt. Based on an assortment of characters living in a gracefully crumbling apartment building in downtown Cairo, the film is a scathing indictment of Egypt's political and social fall from grace as well as a bittersweet tribute to a city loved by millions.
People have been flocking to the theaters here like I have never seen before - we barely managed to get tickets to a 7pm showing on a Wednesday. Hard to say what public reaction has been - while the English press has been laudatory (the film won several prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival this year), word is that public reaction in the Arabic media has been less than kind due to the scandalous nature of its subjects.
As far as I know, no release date has been set for the US, but it is well worth seeking out if and when it comes. In the meanwhile, NPR had an interesting piece on the film which you can find here.
People have been flocking to the theaters here like I have never seen before - we barely managed to get tickets to a 7pm showing on a Wednesday. Hard to say what public reaction has been - while the English press has been laudatory (the film won several prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival this year), word is that public reaction in the Arabic media has been less than kind due to the scandalous nature of its subjects.
As far as I know, no release date has been set for the US, but it is well worth seeking out if and when it comes. In the meanwhile, NPR had an interesting piece on the film which you can find here.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home