After taking part in the 26th Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure will be released in Zawya in Alexandria at Amir Cinema starting December 12th, 2015 at 06:00 pm. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the presence of its director and stars including Ahmed Magdy and Shams Labib.

The film recounts the story of young man who dreams of exploring the world as he grows up in isolation along with his grandmother and mother, who due to the latter's fears that he would abandon her, just as his father did, decides to lock him up in the house.

Written and directed by Karim Hanafy, The Gate of Departure stars Salwa Khattab, Ahmed Magdy, Amaal Abdel Hady and Shams Labib. The film is produced by Khaial Art Production with support from Egypt's Ministry of Culture. With MAD Solutions on board as the film's distributor in the Arab world through its distribution arm MAD Distribution, the company has released the film in Egyptian cinemas across Cairo.

The Gate of Departure had its US premiere through the Arab Film Festival in San Francisco, the biggest and longest-standing annual independent film events screening modern contemporary films from and about the Arab world.

The film has won widespread critical and audience acclaim last year at Cairo International Film Festival where it landed as the only Egyptian official selection and won the Silver Pyramid Award for Best Artistic Contribution.

The Gate of Departure show times at Zawya at Amir Cinema: 06:00 pm