Egyptian Documentary "The Brink of Dreams" Makes Cannes History with L'Œil d'Or Win

The Egyptian documentary film "The Brink of Dreams" (Les Filles du Nil), directed by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir,  has won the L’Oeil d’or prize (Golden Eye), the top award for documentary at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Documentary at the 77th edition.

The L’Oeil d’or prize was announced on the Croisette Friday and is shared with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck's "Lost and Found".

The documentary debuted in the Critics’ Week competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. After the premiere, the movie received rave reviews from multiple distinguished publications, such as Le Monde, and Variety.

"The Brink of Dreams", a film set in the directors’ native Egypt, debuted in the Critics Week sidebar to Cannes. After the premiere, the movie received rave reviews from multiple distinguished publications, such as Le Monde, and Variety.

The L’Oeil d’or jury – comprised of president Nicolas Philibert, as well as Dyana Gaye, Elise Jalladeau, Francis Legault and Mina Kavani – wrote it "takes us to a Coptic village in southern Egypt, in the footsteps of a small group of girls who rebel by forming a street theater troupe. Dreaming of becoming actresses, dancers or singers, they try to find their place, defying their families and the patriarchal traditions of their country. A film both simple and luminous, that could almost look like ‘a walk in the park,’ but instead shows us the complexity of their struggle to conquer freedom, and the turbulences generated around them.”

For the second year in a row, the L’Oeil d’or prize was being shared by two films. Last year’s award also went to two films: "Four Daughters", directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, and "The Mother of All Lies", directed by Asmae El Moudir. 

"Four Daughters" went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature and was Tunisia’s official entry in the Best International Film category, and "The Mother of All Lies" became Morocco’s official entry for Best International Film.

The L’Oeil d’or Prize is a relatively new award in the Cannes pantheon, introduced in 2015 and comes with a €5,000 award. It was created by SCAM, France’s Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia. Twenty-two films vied for the trophy this year; eligible films can premiere in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings and Special Screenings, Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week.