The Documentary
Last Oct., the director, Reem Osama, graced us with the trailer of her short docu-drama on her official Instagram page. The film was then screened for the first time at El Gouna Film Festival in a special event under the sponsorship of the National Council for Women (NCW) and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), in cooperation with UNICEF and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) who also funded the film.
The short documentary film follows the story of three girls (Alaa, Samaa & Noura) from different parts of Egypt like Assuit, Aswan & Fayoum. Sharing something in common between our heroines that changed their lives forever and inevitably will be an inspiration to many other young women to choose their way and hold on to their choice no matter what. It shows the challenges, dreams, and hopes for all girls in Egypt.
The Impact
In that special event attended by Dr. Maya Morsy, President of the National Council for Women, Dr. Sahar Sonbaty, Secretary-General of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, as well as Ms. Nicole Shampaine, Deputy Chief of mission, US Embassy Cairo, and Ms. Leslie Reed. Mission Director, USAID in Egypt, Ms. Elena Panova, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Jeremy Hopkins. At El Gouna Film Festival, Egyptian actress Mona Zaki, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador accompanied the girls on a special red-carpet entrance as they actively engaged in the celebration where she said, “She is proud to present these inspiring girls.”
The whole event was for celebrating Egyptian Girl Day and empowering young women especially the most vulnerable. Dr. Maya Morsy said: “There are around 20 million girls under the age of 20 in Egypt. Girls possess huge potentials, and empowering them improves their lives and the lives of their families. It is an investment for a better future for Egypt.”
The documentary had a huge impact in the short span of a couple of months since it premiered and just when we thought it couldn’t make a bigger splash, New York, New York!
The Award
Just today, the news broke that the documentary won Best Short Documentary at the New York Movie Award. The director expressed her more than understandably divided feelings on Instagram, sharing a video of the winners’ list from the official website of the Movie Award.
And I’m sure we as Egyptian viewers couldn’t be any happier to see one of our own reaching these heights on her creative journey while making waves and changing perspectives in regards to a very important topic like girl’s empowerment.