Courtesy of Sufi Bookstore’s Facebook page
Zamalek’s answer to hipster favourite Bikya, Sufi, has established itself as the neighbourhood’s place to be when you are in need of a good book and a sense of community.
The concept behind Sufi is that of a book cafe that focuses on the social aspect. It routinely hosts film screenings, music concerts, solo acts, and meetings for countless other initiatives.
After film screenings that have gone on regularly for the past year, Sufi is hosting a film festival just in case you missed the initial screenings.
The marathon will feature back-to-back films that have been screened before; most are renowned classics of world cinema. The cinema marathon sets you back EGP 40 for a ticket on each day of screening and this includes one free bowl of popcorn.
The marathon starts at 3pm and ends at 12am. The screenings already started on Saturday but they are scheduled to go on until Monday.
The films being screened include the 1992 documentary Baraka, which examines human life and religion through photography, the excellent Persepolis which looks at Iranian post-revolution life, The Tiger and The Snow and No One Knows about Persian Cats.
Previous screenings have included masterful directors and renowned films such as Oscar-winner Life is Beautiful, Palme d’Or winner The Tree of Life, Tom Twyker’s stylish Run, Lola, Run and Bergman’s Persona.
“We have picked the films that have gotten the best reception throughout the year,” said Osama Mustafa, manager of Sufi.
“We have been screening films ever since we opened. We screen the films every Friday, so once a week. Sufi is a book store and a community centre, so it is important to focus on that aspect as well as on cinema,” he said.
The films do not follow a particular theme or pattern, unlike Mosireen or Cimatheque, “we have someone at Sufi who is responsible for picking the films and we have picked highlights for our audiences,” said Mustafa.
“Sufi also hosts a concert every week, on a Thursday,” he added, part of the reason why the book store and cafe has developed a loyal and sizeable following.
Sufi plans to continue with events of the same kind and says there is something special in the works being prepared for New Year’s, “we have a big performance coming up for New Year’s but we cannot announce anything specific yet,” Mustafa said.
The films are 12 in total and the screenings will end today, but Sufi is quickly establishing itself as a venue for quirky and offbeat events, so we recommend you keep checking.
