THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING / OMARET YACOUBIAN

Origin Country: Egypt
Runtime: 172 MIN
Presentation Format: 35 MM

DIR Marwan Hamed SCR Waheed Hamed NOVEL Alaa Al Aswani PROD Sameh Gobran, Adel Adib DP Sameh Selim ED Khaled Marei PROD DES Fawzy Awamry CAST Adel Imam, Nour El Sherif, Hend Sabry, Yousra, Isaad Younis, Hind Sabry, Somaya ElKhashab, Ahmed Rateb

Short Note:
The famous Yacoubian Building was erected in downtown Cairo in 1934 to house the city's upper crust. In its heyday it housed wealthy pashas, government ministers and foreign diplomats. After the military-backed coup in 1952, rich foreigners fled the country abandoning the once stately building. Today the tenants of its spacious apartments are a bit tattered and its rooftop laundry rooms are converted into homes for the poor.

Long Note:
Based on the Egyptian best-selling novel, THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING was adapted to the big screen amidst a whirlwind of controversy due to its depiction of taboo subjects such as corruption, homosexuality, religious hypocrisy and Islamic extremism.

Set in the actual building that exists in Cairo, the residents of this 10-story structure represent the different layers of modern Egyptian society, from the old guard to the new. There is the former aristocrat who longs for the old days, the ambitious businessman who strives to be a politician, the successful magazine editor who is in the proverbial closet,the young student who is lured down a dangerous path, and the young woman who struggles to keep her family above the poverty line, which in Egypt is very low.

First time filmmaker Marwan Hamed remarkably transforms this ambitious dramatic story into a compassionate film that unveils the underbelly of traditional society as it copes with the mire of modernization. Egypt's official Oscar® submission.
-Sharifa Johka

Biography:
Born in 1977, Marwan Hamed graduated from film school in 1999 and apprenticed as assistant director to several veteran Egyptian filmmakers -- Sherif Arafa, Samir Seif, Khairy Beshara, etc. -- before establishing his own reputation directing commercials. In 2001 he directed his first big screen film, a short drama, Lily, which won prizes at Carthage and other festivals. He has also directed two short documentaries as well as several fiction shorts. THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING marks his debut in features.