- published: 18 Sep 2011
- views: 133438
Asmaa or Asma'a (Arabic: أسماء) is a 2011 Egyptian drama film, written and directed by Amr Salama, and is the first such feature film to present AIDS patients sympathetically. The film tells the history of a woman with HIV who struggles to live under the burden of keeping her HIV status secret, and then the dilemma she faces when offered the opportunity to appear on a television talk show. It is based on a true story of a woman who died from a burst gallbladder after doctors refused to operate on her because she had AIDS. The director, Amr Salama, intended the film to raise awareness about AIDS: in his words, to correct the "misconceptions and lies" about the disease, since more people are dying from the misconceptions than from the lack of treatment. The film is not about AIDS, but rather the battle against social prejudice in Egypt, and about "love, courage, overcoming fear, and fighting for personal rights".
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, very frightening TV adverts about AIDS had been broadcast in Egypt, with scary images of bats, blood, evil satanic prostitutes and intravenous drug use. Early films about AIDS tended to display total ignorance about the facts of the disease, and to play on fear; one such film was based on HIV being transferred by infected female Mossad agents in Taba. Wessam el-Beih, the UNAIDS Country Coordinator for Egypt, said, "Egyptian media , especially the film industry has for years propagated misinformation and portrayed biased views about people living with HIV."
Actors: Hend Sabri (actress), Maged El Kedwany (actor), Amr Salama (director), Hani Adel (actor), Amr Salama (writer), Amr Salah El din (editor), Rasha Gawdat (miscellaneous crew), Aly Mourad (editor),
Genres: Drama,Actors: Eric Savin (actor), Nabil Ayouch (producer), Alain Rozanès (producer), Karim Saidi (actor), Mohamed Choubi (actor), Omar Lotfi (actor), Noémie Moreau (editor), Talal Selhami (writer), Talal Selhami (producer), Talal Selhami (director), Meryam Raoui (actress), Clémence Imbert (miscellaneous crew), Aïssam Bouali (actor), Karim Chériguène (miscellaneous crew), Mustapha El Houari (actor),
Plot: "Five individuals with contrasting profiles compete for a position within "Matsuika", a multinational corporation recently set up in Morocco. Following an interview with the CEO, they are advised to undertake a mysterious test in a secret location. It will determine who will hold the position. All five applicants accept and are led into a distressing bus with no windows. After endless driving, an accident occurs with the candidates trapped in the wreck. Thanks to a joint effort, they manage to evacuate the bus only to find themselves lost in the desert with their driver nowhere to be found. They start to wander, questioning the nature of the accident. Is it part of the test? Despite their will to survive and an urge to find clues, mirages of their most intimate fears start to haunt them."
Keywords: baby, blood, car-accident, cell-phone, cigarette-smoking, death, desert, fear, hallucination, hole-in-the-wallActors: Alain Rocca (producer), Rabii Elbakki (miscellaneous crew), Khalid Maadour (actor), Clémentine Schaeffer (miscellaneous crew), Adeline Lecallier (producer), Rabii El Bakki (miscellaneous crew), Pascale Fenouillet (editor), Matthieu Boujenah (actor), Franck Fuchs (miscellaneous crew), Assaad Bouab (actor), Stéphanie Carreras (producer), Laïla Marrakchi (director), Morjana Alaoui (actress), Laïla Marrakchi (writer), Emma Bellocq (costume designer),
Genres: Drama, Romance,I finally feel at ease, i'm on an eastern breeze
It blows me into shore
Come back to kiss my dear, come back to face my fears
It can't be worse than war
Unless you say that you gave your heart away (gave your heart away)
Unless you say that i shouldn't have returned (shouldn't have returned)
And in that case... i'll go
Every night i see a shooting star and wonder if it's landing where you are
If you can see it then you can't be far
And if that's the way you do it, that's the way you find your love
Now the air is cold and thin, i'm on my second wind
It blows me to your door
Lean into the bell and press
You're in a brand new dress i've never seen before
But then you say that you gave your heart away (i gave my heart away)
And then you say that i shouldn't have returned (you shouldn't have returned)
So i turn my face... and go
Every time i take a look around, i find myself looking out
To a place that looks a lot more round
I find myself feeling down
Every night i see a shooting star and wonder if it's landing where you are
If you can see it then you can't be far