Karim Hanafy's film The Gate of Departure competes in the 19th annual Arab Film Festival (AFF) in
San Francisco (October 16-25). The film will be screened on Sunday 18 October in Embarcadero Center Cinema at 01:00 pm GMT -7.

AFF is considered one of the most important showcases of Arab cinema outside the Arab world. It strives to present the best contemporary films that provide insight into the beauty, complexity and diversity of the Arab world alongside realistic perspectives on Arab people, culture, art, history and politics. This year's festival will be held throughout San Francisco (16-25 October) then in Los Angeles (13- 15 November) followed by San Diego (20- 23).

The Gate of Departure traces a young man who dreams of exploring the world as he grows up in isolation along with his grandmother 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.

Directed and written by Kareem Hanafy, The Gate of Departure stars Salwa Khattab, Ahmed Magdy, Amaal Abdel Hadi and Shams Labib. Khayal Art Productions is the producing company of the film with support from Egypt's Ministry of Culture while MAD Solutions is in charge of the film's distributor in the Arab world.

Last year, the film was picked by the Cairo International Film Festival, where it was the only Egyptian picture in official selection. The Gate of Departure received wide critical acclaim and was awarded the Silver Pyramid for Best Artistic Contribution.

The Gate of Departure screening times at Arab Film Festival (AFF):

Sunday,18 October in Embarcadero Center Cinema at 01:00 pm GMT -7.