The Documentary Les Petits Chats Screens at Roxy Cinema in Dubai

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About One of the Most Popular Egyptian Bands in the 60s and 70s

The Documentary Les Petits Chats Screens at Roxy Cinema in Dubai


Continuing its tour across the Arab world, Director Sherif Nakhla's documentary Les Petits Chats will be screened at Roxy Cinema in Dubai on Monday, October 30th, at 7:00 PM (GMT+4) as part of an event organized by writer and artist Hind Mezaina from September till November 2017. This screening will be held in cooperation with Emirati director Nayla El Khaga, Founder of The Scene Club; and MAD Solutions, the film's distributor in the Arab world.

Directed and produced by Sherif Nakhla, the film is named after the legendary band Les Petits Chats of the cherished era of the 60s and 70s. The six members, who are now major celebrities and musicians, are reunited to perform one last time in a night to remember in spring 2010. Les Petits Chats film is an insight into the lives of the former band-mates during their glory days that answers the questions evoked within each one of them by tracking their present lives and life choices since their breakup in the 80s. The film showcases interviews with major celebrities and cinema stars at that time and nowadays including: Ezzat Abu Ouf, Omar Khairat, Sobhy Bedair, Samir Sabri and Mohamed Salmawy.

Last April, Les Petits Chats was released at VOX Cinemas, Mall of Egypt and Zawya Cinema and Zamalek Cinema in Egypt. The film landed its world premiere at the 18th Arabian Sights Film Festival for Contemporary Arab Cinema in Washington, DC in 2015, where the film received a nomination for the Arabian Sights Jury Prize. Within its premiere, the film captivated the audiences and the "full-house" signs were raised during its two screenings. The film also took part in several international film festivals including; the Cascade Festival of African Films in Portland, USA, Silk Road Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland, Arab Cinema Week in New York and the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in the US.

Sherif Nakhla is an Egyptian director and producer, born in Boston and spent his childhood in the US before returning to the Arab world. He graduated with a double major in Theater and Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo. Shortly afterwards, Sherif worked for Al-Ahram Weekly, writing for the culture section while also producing and directing plays, such as; Moliereʼs Don Juan, which marked the opening of the 2003 Theatre Festival at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Eugene Ionescoʼs The Lesson at El Sawy Culture Wheel. In 2005, Nakhla left the newspaper and had a two year stint in advertising with Tarek Nour Communications before becoming a Sauvé Scholar at McGill University in 2007.

His first work after graduation was a short film called Miraculum (2006) discussing the taboo topic of a Muslim/Christian teenage love story -an issue deliberately left out of public dialogue. This film went into more than 25 international film festivals, winning three awards including the Best Sociopolitical Film at the New York Independent International Film Festival. In 2009, Nakhla began working on his first feature documentary Les Petits Chats, and he is currently in the process of making his first feature film.