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

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


Karim Hanafy's The Gate of Departure received six awards at the 42nd Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival, marking the biggest number of awards for a film in the festival in a fierce competition against other eight films. The awards are; Best Film, Best Director (Karim Hanafy), Best Cinematography (Zaki Aref), Best Music (Rageh Daoud), Best Sound (Alaa El Kashef), and Best Poster (Theodor Amin).

Commenting on these awards, Karim Hanafy said, "From the very first moment, The Gate of Departure has received rave reviews that helped introduce it to audiences and present it at festivals. The film completely owes its reputation to critics, as that critical acclaim has led to the Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival awards."

The film's triumphant win comes after taking part at the 3rd Sudan Independent Film Festival (SIFF) in Sudan and screening at Luxor Arab & European Film Festival within the Nights of Egyptian Cinema section.

"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 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 for two weeks.

The Gate of Departure had 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 film has won widespread critical and audience acclaim 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.