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The Gate of Departure Wins Two Awards at the Egyptian National Film Festival

Two Screenings for The Gate of Departure in France and Alexandria

Director Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure Takes Part in the Arab Film Festival Berlin

The Gate of Departure Screens at the Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival in USA

The Gate of Departure Wins 4 awards and a Certificate of Appreciation at the Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival

The Gate of Departure Sweeps Six Awards at the Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival

A Double Screening for Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure in Egypt and Sudan

Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure Screens at Zawya, Alexandria

Kareem Hanafy's The Gate of Departure Vies at the Jesuit Film Festival

The Gate of Departure Screens at the Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival in USA

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After Winning 11 Local and International Awards

The Gate of Departure Screens at the Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival in USA


After a fascinating award-winning festival tour, where the film reaped 11 local and international awards, Director Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure screens at Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival in Michigan, USA. The film will be screened on Sunday, March 20th, 2016, within the Feature Films competition.

The Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival strives to provide the communities of Western Michigan University and greater Kalamazoo as well as educators across Michigan and the surrounding Midwestern states an opportunity to experience a broader and more diverse view of world cinema. The festival is dedicated to the presentation of original creative cinema from Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish-speaking cultures around the world.

In early March 2016, Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure has earned 4 awards, along with a Certificate of Appreciation at the 64th Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival (26 February-
4 March). The Gate of Departure won the Special Jury Award, Best Cinematography (Zaki Aref), Best Music (Rageh Daoud), jointly with the film Out of the Ordinary, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Salwa Khattab), together with Naglaa Badr for her role in Out of the Ordinary. The Gate of Departure
received a Certificate of Appreciation after it has competed in the 64th edition of the festival, as one of the best five Egyptian films in 2015 complied with the ethical and humanitarian criteria outlined by the
Egyptian Catholic Center Cinema Festival.

Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure has marked the biggest number of awards at the 42nd Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival 2016 by receiving six awards. These awards are; Best Film, Best Director (Karim Hanafy), Best Cinematography (Zaki Aref), Best Music (Rageh Daoud), Best Sound (Alaa El Kashef) and Best Poster Design (Theodore Amin) awards. The Gate of Departure had its first award at Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) 2014 where it landed as the only Egyptian official selection and won the Silver Pyramid Award for Best Artistic Contribution.

Recently, the film has participated in the 4th The Luxor Egyptian & European Film Festival within the Nights of Egyptian Cinema section, the 3rd Sudan Independent Film Festival. Landed its US premiere through the Arab Film Festival in San Francisco, one of the biggest and longest-standing annual independent film events screening modern contemporary films from and about the Arab world, The Gate of Departure took part at the Silk Road Film Festival (SRFF) Dublin, Ireland.

"You, who have always been here, you will be everywhere. The Gate of Departure is a story of a prophecy that has always haunted a son growing to manhood in his mother's desolated home. The son is unable to begin his journey beyond the boundaries of these walls repressed by feelings of guilt towards his mother, who chooses to imprison herself for the rest of her life, guarding her only son as she helplessly witnesses her beauty slipping away day by day. The sorrowful mother refuses to let go of the gift that life has granted her. Only a whirlwind of painful dreams that pave the way for her son's departure teaches her to accept her eternal solitude, thus opening the door for him to begin his long journey to himself.

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 of 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 for two weeks.

The Gate of Departure screening time at The Kalamazoo World Languages Film Festival (GMT -4)
Sunday, March 20th, 2016 - 4pm at the Alamo Draft house Cinema