Om Amira Takes Part in Arab Women's Film Festival in Holland and AfryKamera African Film Festival in Poland

An Award-Winning Film that Changed its Heroine's Life

Om Amira Takes Part in Arab Women's Film Festival in Holland and AfryKamera African Film Festival in Poland

Continuing to reap several awards and accolades at several international film festivals,
Naji Ismail's Om Amira takes part in two major festivals in Europe; namely, Arab Women's Film Festival in Holland and AfryKamera African Film Festival in Poland.

Written and directed by Naji Ismail, Om Amira is produced by his Rahala Production and Distribution. The 24-minute film tells the story of Amira's mother (Om Amira) who resides with her family on a roof top in Downtown, Cairo. Having no other option but to toughen up to support her family and her sick daughter suffering from a heart condition, she sells home-made fried potato sandwiches for living all night long until the sunrise in the streets of the sleepless city of Cairo.

On his personal Facebook account, Ismail expressed his happiness on how the film positively affected Om Amira's life. After spending years as a street vendor selling fried-potato sandwiches, Om Amira now has her own shop.

"I would like to thank everyone who went to see the film and had the chance to meet this amazing woman and to those who put every possible effort to help Om Amira get over her grief and hardships as a woman working alone in the streets. I am thankful to Rahala Production and Distribution, GIZ , Ana Hunna initiative and to the whole crew who contributed to the film without waiting for something in return. I am grateful to the circumstances that led to the encounter of this wonderful woman," Naji wrote on his Facebook account.

Taking place from 6-8 March, 2015, the 5th Arab Women's Film Festival will screen
Om Amira on the last day of the festival. The Arab Women's Film Festival is an annual, global film festival that showcases films which discuss Arab women issues so that European audience and Arab communities could get a close look.

Next April, Om Amira will also participate in AfryKamera African Film Festival within Short Films (Documentary) competition. Specialized in screening African films that received accolades at prestigious film events, AfryKamera African Film Festival includes sections for feature-length films, short films, feature-length documentaries and short documentaries.

Earlier this year, Om Amira has set off in several international film events and received the ACT award as the Best Women's Film at the 17th Ismailia International Film Festival within the Short Documentary section for the film's brilliant portrayal of the issues and struggles of the working Egyptian mother. The short documentary, Om Amira, also earned the Best Cinematography Award at SIMA Awards "Social Impact Media Awards" within the Short Documentary section. Recently, Om Amira has won the Best Documentary Film Award at Aan Korb: BBC Arabic Film and Documentary Festival. The festival mainly focuses on screening the best works discussing the enormous changes that swept over the Arab world since 2010 uprisings. Last month, Om Amira won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Film at the 4th Africa International Film Festival in Nigeria. Recently, Om Amira added another win to the film's record with the Best Documentary Award
(15-minute or longer category) at the 18th Egyptian National Film Festival.

Previously, Naji's Om Amira has been officially selected to contend at the Short Film Competition within Berlin International Film Festival in 2014, marking the first participation of an Egyptian film in the competition. Om Amira also was part of the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival.