In the Teaser Trailer of The Other Land: Mohamed Ali a Drowning Migrant Struggling to Survive

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Director Ali Idrees Addresses the Issue of Irregular Immigration in the Mediterranean Sea

In the Teaser Trailer of The Other Land: Mohamed Ali a Drowning Migrant Struggling to Survive


Creativo Productions has released the first teaser trailer of the new film El Bar el Tany (The Other Land) by director Ali Idrees and writer Zainab Aziz. The film discusses the issue of unorganized immigration through different stories inspired by true events. The film's trailer has been shown on CBC and Rotana
channels, and was featured in ET Bel Arabi TV program that airs on MBC4.

Young actor Mohamed Ali, who plays the lead role in the film, has founded Creativo Productions that has started its activities by producing The Other Land. Ali believes in the imperativeness of the issue presented in the film, the immigration of young Egyptians across the Mediterranean Sea through unofficial channels. Ali talked about the film saying, "We have worked so hard in the past two years to make this film to shed light on the dangers faced by the young Egyptians who try to flee the country on ships that lack the basic safety standards, while being victimized by a bunch of unmerciful smugglers. We also had to make sure that the challenging economic conditions are emphasized in the film, which mostly play a vital rule in driving these young people to risk their lives."

Ali explained that it is wrong to use the term 'illegal immigration' to describe this case, saying, "The most accurate description is 'Irregular Immigration' or 'Undocumented Immigration', because there is nothing illegal about moving from a country to another to make a living."

He continues referring to the latest heart-rending Rashid boat capsizing accident, "Of course there is a great deal of resemblance between the film The Other Land, and the tragic capsizing accident of the boat near Rashid city, but unfortunately poor people always encounter similar unfortunate events. We hope that our film comes as a wake-up call to this important issue."

The Other Land follows the stories of a group of young Egyptians, who escape Egypt's underprivileged rural villages, all sharing one desire, and that is to immigrate to Italy, but without having any official documents aboard a ramshackle old ship. Seeing Italy's coastline ignites their hopes for a better life, but then the treacherous sea waves put an end to all.

In the teaser trailer, the lead actor Mohamed Ali appears stuck in a cabin full of water, trying to survive in the middle of tens of dead bodies.

The Other Land stars Mohamed Ali, Bayoumi Fouad, Abdel Aziz Makhyoun, Mohamed Mahran, Amr El Kady, Afaf Shoaib, and Hanan Soliman. The film is written by Zainab Aziz and directed by Ali Idrees and, marking their sixth time together, co-produced by Creativo Productions, DX Productions in collaboration with The Partner Barcelona. MAD Solutions will be handling the distribution of the film.

The Other Land was filmed in Spain, Italy and Romania, along with Egypt where the scenes of the rural villages and the shore of Alexandria were shot. The production company hired a professional crew including Egyptian DOP Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Spanish DOP Oscar Felices, Assistant Director Chemalinares. The film was co-edited by Syrian Film Editor Salem Derbas and the Spanish Editors Manel Frasquiel and Conrado Lopez, special effects by the Spanish expert Salvador Santana, and visual effects by Rafael Galdo.

Ali Idrees is an Egyptian director who started his career as an assistant director of many important films such as Sa'eedi Fil Gamaa el Amrekeia (Sa'eedi in the American University), El Nazer (The School Principal), Toyour El-Zalam (Birds of Darkness), and El Noom fi el Asal. His first film as a director was Ashab Wala Business (Friendship or Business). Idrees directed many box office hits including Aris Min Geha Amneya (A Groom from the Security Entity), Morgan Ahmed Morgan, and Al-Dada Dodi (Dodi The Nanny).