19° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL
Tribute to Shadi Abdu Al Salam

Tharthara fawqa al Nil

bla bla bla on the Nile
by Husein Kamal
Country: Egypt
Year: 1971
Duration: 115'


A group of intellectuals, including the writer Khalid, the actor Ragiab and the employee Anis, are on a flatboat tethered along the Nile, to chat, smoke drugs and try to seduce the girls. Samara, a journalist, starts to jot down in her diary the actions and discussions of the intellectuals. One night they run over a woman and flee. Anis reads the diary to the others, but no one reacts. The flatboat's watchman decides to cut loose the moorings and let the boat drift away.

"Tharthara fawqa al Nil is a political film, but the hashish we see in the movie has another meaning with respect to what it may represent in the book by Nagib Mahfuz. Hashish was the symbol of the defeat in 1967: during the protests in 1972 the students behaved just like the main characters in this film. The censors cut two scenes: in the first the group is having fun climbing the statue of Ramses II; in the second, a soldier who had to return to the front contemplated the carefree life of Cairo" (Husein Kamal).

Biography

film director

Husein Kamal

Husein Kamal (1932). Movie, theater, television and radio director, he graduated from the IDHEC in Paris in 1956. He worked as director's assistant for Yusuf Shahin on his two flms Inta habibi (You Are My Love) and Bab el hadid (Central Station). He has directed many short films for television.

FILMOGRAFIA

Al mustahil (L'impossibile, 1965), El bustagi (Il postino, 1968), Shai'un min al khawf (Un po' di paura, 1969), Abi fawqa al shgiara (Mio padre è sull'albero, 1969), Nahnu la nazra'u al shawk (Non piantiamo le spine, 1970), Tharthara fawqa al Nil (Chiaccherata sul Nilo, 1971), Imbirattoriyyat Mim (L'impero di Mim, 1972), Anf wa thalatht uiun (Un naso e tre occhi, 1972), Dami wa dumu'i wa ibtisamati (Il mio sangue, le mie lacrime e il mio sorriso, 1973), La shai'a yahum (Non importa niente, 1975), Al naddaha (Il richiamo della morte, 1975), Al hubb tahta al mattar (L'amore sotto la pioggia, 1975), Molid ya dunia (Festa nel mondo 1975), Ala waraqi al solifan (Su una carta di cellofan, 1975), Ihna bitu'e el otobis (Noi siamo quelli dell'autobus, 1976), Habibi daiman (Il mio amore per sempre, 1979), Al adra'u wa al sa'aru al abiyad (La vergine e i capelli bianchi, 1980), Argiuk a'attini hada al dawà (Ti prego dammi quella medicina, 1983), Aiyyam fi al halal (Giornate legittime, 1984), Qafassu al harim (La gabbia delle donne, 1986), Ah ya bald ah (Oh, gente, 1986), Kullu hada al hubb (Tutto questo amore, 1988), Harat Burgiuwan (Il quartiere di Burgiuwan, 1989), Al masattil (Gli ubriaconi, 1991), Nuru al uiun (Luce degli occhi, 1991), Diku el baraber (Lo spaccone, 1992), El wad Sayyid el shaghal (Il ragazzo Sayyid, uomo di fatica, 1993), Hazzimni ya (Fammi ballare, 1997).

Cast

& Credits

Director: Husein Kamal.
Plot: Nagib Mahfuz.
Sceneggiatura e dialoghi: Mamduh Al Laithi.
Director of photography: Mustafa Imam.
Art director: Maher Abdu Al Nur.
Editor: Rashida Abdu Al Salam.
Sound: Nassri Abdu Al Nur.
Music: Ali Isma'il.
Cast and characters: Ahmad Ramzi (Ragiab), Magda Al Khattib (Samara), Mirvat Amin (San`), Adel Adham (Khalid), Suhair Ramzi, Ni'mat Mukhtar, Ahmad Tawfiq.
Production company: Aflam Gimal Al Laithi.
Italian distribution: Africor.
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