The Last Tears of Eissa
Spring Grants 2022 - Production Stage
Morad Mostafa / Short Narrative / Egypt, France, Qatar / 20 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Drama
Synopsis
Eissa, a 17-year-old illegal Sudanese migrant, lives in Cairo and is in love with an Egyptian girl called Sarah. After a huge sectarian fight that breaks out in his neighbourhood, Eissa tries to flee the country to protect Sarah, who he hid in an abandoned car in a scrap yard—and fulfil a pledge he made to Malik, his baby brother, that he promised to get out of this cruel society. However, things are not that easy; he has to collect a sufficient amount of money in a very narrow window of time, so he goes to Emilia, his neighbour and his boss, to seek help. But when he fails to collect the full amount, he has to sacrifice and take extreme measures for the sake of his loved ones.
Credits
- Director
- Morad Mostafa
- Screenwriter
- Sawsan Yusuf, Morad Mostafa
- Producer
- Sawsan Yusuf
- Production Company
- Bonanza Films
About the Director
Morad Mostafa is an Egyptian filmmaker born in Cairo. He worked on several independent films; and collaborated as an executive director for 'Souad'—official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2020 and Berlinale; Panorama section. Mostafa wrote and directed three short films, all of them selected for Clermont-Ferrand in three consecutive years and participated in other major festivals such as BFI London, Palm Springs, Shanghai, Thessaloniki, Stockholm, Karlovy Vary, BAFICI Buenos Aires, FIFF Namur, Cinemed Montpellier, Durban, Cairo, EL Gouna, and Carthage and won more than 35 international awards. He is currently working on his first feature film and was selected at Rotterdam Lab IFFR, alongside being a La Fabrique Cinema in Festival Du Cannes Alumni.