Director Sherif El Bendary Wraps up the Final Scene of Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim

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A Co-production between the UAE, Egypt, and France

Director Sherif El Bendary Wraps up the Final Scene of Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim


Director Sherif El Bendary wrapped up the shooting for the last scene of Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, which was filmed at several locations in Cairo, Egypt. The film now enters a new stage in the production process.

About the film wrap up, Director Sherif El Bendary commented, "I'm really happy about completing a great deal of the past five years tiring journey of filming Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, which witnessed too much effort, whether in the film idea, screenplay or the filming. The film did well through these five years as it was an attention-grabber at film festivals and aid competitions, where we received many funds and awards for the film. I hope that the film continues on with its success on the professional level and the audience reaction".

Last film scenes were shot at Amir Taz Palace, Qasr al-Nil Bridge, Al Wahat Road and Egypt Train Station (Cairo Ramses Station), featuring film stars Ali Sobhy and Ahmed Magdy.

Egyptian director Sherif El Bendary's film Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim has been selected by the 3rd committee of Aide aux Cinémas du Monde 2015 (Aid to the World Cinema) for film completion fund. Granting financial support for the film to complete the last stages of the production phase, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim was chosen among 13 films from across 10 countries. Jointly created by the Ministry for Culture and Communication and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde is managed by the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC) and the Institute Français.

The film project had previously received three awards as part of the Final Cut in Venice workshop at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, namely; 10,000 Euros worth award presented by the Paris-based CNC foundation to be spent in post-production phase in France; 10,000 Euros provided by the French Knight works to be spent on the visual and special effects; in addition to 10,000 Euros provided by Titra TVS to be spent on the digital colors correction, DCP bar and providing film subtitles into French or English.

The film has received a post-production fund from SANAD Fund, and the Arab Funds for Arts and Culture grant in 2009 for (Afaq), in addition to funding support from Doha Film Institute in 2013, chosen among 211 projects applied for the scholarship, and also gained the support of the Dubai Film Fund and Enjaaz within Dubai International Film Festival.

Directed by Sherif El Bendary, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim is written by Ahmed Amer based on Ibrahim El Batout's story and is produced by Mohamed Hefzy's Fortress Film Clinic, Transit Films of Hossam Elouan and the French film production company Arizona Productions. To be distributed by MAD Solutions, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim introduces two acting prodigies; Ali Sobhy (Ein Shams 2009) and Ahmed Magdy (The Gate of Departure 2014), who star along with Salwa Mohamed Aly and Nahed El Sebai.

An Egyptian director, Sherif El Bendary graduated from Faculty of Applied Arts in 2011. He worked as a textile engineer, before he studied film-directing at the Egyptian Higher Institute of Cinema (HCI) in 2002. He graduated in 2007, and was appointed as a lecturer in the Film-directing department in 2008. El Bendary made his breakthrough into filmmaking through a number of short films and documentaries; most notably his first short film in 2006, Sabah El Fol (Rise and Shine), starring Hend Sabry and produced by the National Center for Cinema, which won several awards and was officially selected in more than 75 film festivals in 33 countries. Sherif El Bendary's second short film At Day's End (2008) was inspired by salient writer Ibrahim Aslan's novella, which was also his graduation project, featuring the well-known Art Director Salah Marie. In 2011, Sherif El Bendary directed his documentary film Fil Tarik Le West El Balad, along with his short film Curfew, a chapter that was part of the collective feature 18 Days, which was an official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2011.

In 2014, El Bendary won The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung at Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) to aid his short film Dry, Hot Summers, which was achieved in 2015 and was screened at several International and local film festivals. He directed his first feature film Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim in 2015, which is jointly produced by Arab world and European countries. Two Rooms and a Living Room is
Sherif El Bendary's next awaited project, a short film based on the story under the same name by the recently passed away great writer Ibrahim Aslan. For his extraordinary efforts, he was selected to be a jury member at numerous local and international film festivals namely, the Beirut International Film Festival for Students competition in 2012, Casablanca International Student Film Festival in 2013 and
Ismailia International Festival for Documentary and Short Films in 2013, besides he is a member of the
Supreme Council of Culture under the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.