Completing the series of international acknowledgements it has been witnessing since it saw the light for the first time, Kamla Abu Zekri’s film Youm Lel Setat (A Day for Women) won the Audience Award at the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam.
This comes at the same month the film also won the award for Best Screenplay at the Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq, in addition to taking part in the Cape Town International Film Festival and the Beirut Film Festival.
A day for women starring Egyptian superstars Elham Shahin, Nelly Karim, Nahed El-Sebaey, Mahmoud Hemeda and Ahmed El-Fishawy.
“A Day for Women” takes place in one of the working class neighbourhoods where he Youth centre dedicates a day on the pool for women only. As the plot goes, audience get to see the consequences of this decision on the psychological and emotional life of both men and women living in the neighbourhood. While women from different ages gather each week to enjoy the luxury of swimming in a pool, audience get to see them sharing their dreams, and get to experience their lifestyle.
The Arab Film Festival Rotterdam is a western platform where Arabic films that discuss MENA’s cultural, political and social scene are screened. Participating films usually feature hot sensitive topics regarding people’s living situation in the region.
By doing this, Arab Film Festival creates space for an open dialogue about art, human rights, emancipation and political freedom in Arab countries and in Europe as a whole and in the Netherlands in particular.
Earlier in September, the film won the Grand Prize in the African Cinema Festival in Khouribga, Morocco, only a few days after its female stars Nelly Karim, Elham Shahin and Nahed EL Sebai’e shared the best actress award for their performances at the Kazan International Muslim Film Festival taking place in Russia.
The film’s world premiere took place at 60th BFI London Film Festival. It also competed at the official competition of 38th International Film Festival where Nahed El Sebai’e won the Best Actress Award for her role in the film.
The film made its GCC premiere at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) in its Arabian Nights programme, along with other international festivals.
The film is written by Hanaa Atiya, and produced by Elham Shahin through her company Shahin Film
