The 67th Summer
Spring Grants 2022 - Production Stage
Abu Bakr Shawky / Feature Narrative / France, Egypt, Austria, Germany / 90 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Comedy, Drama, History
Synopsis
In 1967 Ali Ragheb, a young man from Cairo, receives a letter from an Austrian girl named Liz—a reply to his ad looking for a pen pal. From this summer onwards, Ali’s attempt to become a pianist in a family of bureaucrats gains purpose when Liz pushes him towards an elusive goal: a concert for an audience. A friendship evolves across fast-changing worlds, trying to survive war, peace, ruin and ecstasy.
Credits
- Director
- Abu Bakr Shawky
- Screenwriter
- Abu Bakr Shawky
- Producer
- Julie Viez, Katharina Weser, Alexander Glehr, Mohamed Hefzy
- Production Company
- Cinenovo
About the Director
Abu Bakr Shawky is an Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker. He studied Political Science at the American University in Cairo and received an MFA in Film Production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His graduation project at Tisch was his debut feature 'Yomeddine', which premiered in 2018 in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. The film received the Francois Chalais Award and was Egypt’s official submission for the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2018, Shawky was named by Variety as MENA Talent of the Year and was listed by Forbes Magazine among the top five Arab directors on the global stage.