Renowned Egyptian filmmaker Amr Salama's highly-anticipated short film "60 Pounds"will open the 6th El Gouna Film Festival (GFF), running from October 13 to 20.
"60 Pounds" is the first ever short film in history to open an Arab film festival. It clocks in 18 minutes and will be competing in the GFF’s short film competition, where it’s set to have its world premiere.
The short film is a collaboration between multi-award-winning director Salama and up-and-coming Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza in his first acting role.
One of the most prominent trap artists in the current rapping scene, Zaza has rapidly established himself in Egypt's rap scene thanks to his unique approach to drill music. Since the release of his debut album "El Rays", he has developed a cult-like for his unconventional delivery and aggressive singing style.
Zaza has always done his best to convey the ideas of the new generation through his lyrics and songs as well as discuss the issues that dominate his age group. He has many successful songs including "Karreta Sarrefa", "Zaza", "Basha", "Leh Tedaye’", and "Dayra", which was top trending on YouTube upon release.
MAD Solutions recently announced their acquisition of the short film, which is loosely inspired by a song by the rapper of the same name and tackles the topic of domestic abuse; an issue that is important to Salama and Zaza, both of whom wanted to shed more light on it through striking, immersive cinematography, visual storytelling, and raw performances from both Zaza and the rest of the cast.
Upon the film’s acquisition, Salama shared his insight on the making of the short, which he dubbed a "passion project."
“Working on 60 Pounds was a liberating and refreshing experience. As a follower and fan of the Egyptian hip-hop scene, I was amazed by its grassroots authenticity. I was curious to explore this art form and the background of its leading artists and to add the storytelling element to it in order to take this authenticity and turn it into a compelling story.”
Amr Salama
"60 Pounds" follows aspiring rapper Ziad and his family, who have long suffered at the hands of his abusive father. However, when tensions reach a boiling point, Ziad takes it upon himself to end his family’s suffering once and for all.
The cast also incudes Tarek El-Deweri, Hamza Diab, and Rawheya Salem.
"60 Pounds" features an original track written and performed by Zaza, and produced by Ismail Nosrat.
The short was produced by Beatroot Records (Omar Gawdat, Ismail Nosrat, Islam Mahdy) and Cinerama Films (Omar El Safi), lensed by Ahmed Tarek Bayoumi, and edited by Ahmed Hafez.
Salama's films have participated in dozens of national and international festivals and won many awards, most notably the Toronto, Cairo, El Gouna, Carthage, Munich, Washington, Abu Dhabi, Freiburg, London, Zurich, and Palm Springs film festivals.
In 2017, the director's film "Sheikh Jackson" world premiered at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, where it received excellent reviews before opening the first edition of the El Gouna Film Festival and going on to become Egypt's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards that year. It has since received several awards at several regional and international film festivals.
Salama has worked on several other Provocative and/or revolutionary hits that went on to become smashing successes, including "Made In Egypt", "Tayea", the first Egyptian Netflix Original Series "Paranormal", Shahid’s Original Series "Bimbo", and "Bara El Manhag".
Contributed by Yara Sameh
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