The Egyptian documentary The Brink of Dreams directed by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir won the Golden Eye at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Filmed over 4 years, the film follows a group of Coptic girls from a village in southern Egypt who rebel by forming a street theatre group. Dreaming of becoming actresses, dancers or singers, they defy their Coptic families and neighbours with their daring performances.
The Golden Eye jury, chaired by Nicolas Philibert and composed of Dyana Gaye, Elise Jalladeau, Francis Legault and Mina Kavan, wrote afterwards: “A film both simple and luminous, deceptively “ordinary”, allowing us to see in all its complexity the girls’ long struggle to express themselves – and the upset that causes around them.”
The Brink of Dreams shared the Golden Eye with Haitian director Raoul Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.
Sources: L’Œil d’Or, Semaine de la Critique, Broadcast Pro
