BACKSTAGE
Drama | Running Time: 102 minutes
2023 / Arabic
Country: Morocco, Tunisia, Belgium, France, Qatar, Norway and Saudi Arabia
Arab Premiere
Tunisian actress and director Afef Ben Mahmoud has been on stage since she joined a theatre club at age 12. In her first year, she won her first award as Best Comedienne. After years travelling as a dancer, she moved into acting in movies. She made three short films before co-directing Backstage, her first feature
Khalil Benkiran moved from Morocco to the US as a child, then studied cinema at the San Franciso State University. From 1998 to 2002 he oversaw Cinemayaat, the San Francisco Arab Film Festival before directing his own documentary, The White Thread, in 2003. He then moved to Qatar, where he oversees the Grants Programme at the Doha Film Institute
SHOWTIME
VOX Cinema Imax 7 Red Sea Mall
Price: 40 SAR
VOX Cinema 4 Red Sea Mall
Price: 40 SAR
ProducerKhalil Benkirane, Afef Ben Mahmoud
CastAfef Ben Mahmoud, Sondos Belhassen, Saleh Bakri, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sofiane Ouissi, Hajiba Fahmy, Ali Thabet, Abdallah Badis, Salima Abdelwahab, Nassim Baddag
ScriptwriterAfef Ben Mahmoud
On stage, a vibrantly physical performance by a contemporary dance troupe; behind the scenes, all the underlying tensions and dynamics of a creative group who live, work, love and play together. Codirector and dancer Afef Ben Mahmoud plays Aida, a star dancer whose partner Hedi (renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui) injures her – maybe by accident, maybe on purpose – on stage in a small Middle Atlas town. The whole company must make its way through a forest to the nearest medical help. In the dark forest, surrounded by the sounds of wild animals, the journey becomes a riveting dance in itself as the camera leaps among the players. A wholly original film, clearly based on authentic experience and thrilling to watch.