The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Via IndieWire

The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival kicked off on May 17  with a remarkable and promising list of films. As one of the biggest film festivals in the world, cinema and film lovers always keep an eye out on the works Cannes will present, knowing that each one will be full of originality, innovation, and artistic value. 

This year is no different! From a long, rich list, we’re picking the ones we’re most excited about and think you should keep in mind! This list is varied to include in and out of competition ones!

Crimes of the Future

It’s difficult to start the list without this one. David Cronenberg promised that audiences would leave during the first ten minutes, but what he actually got was a six-minute standing ovation. This isn’t difficult to imagine; Cronenberg has established himself as a master of the body horror genre eXistenZ (1999) and The Fly (1986), and his return now with Crimes of the Future proves that it was worth the two decades’ wait. 

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Based on the short story The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A. S. Byatt, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a dark fantasy, comedy-drama written and directed by the Mad Max director, George Miller. Featuring a professor of narratology who encounters a jinn promising to grant her three wishes in exchange for his freedom, the film is an epic fantasy with mixed reviews so far, that makes us even more excited to watch for ourselves!

Holy Spider

Also competing for the Palme d’Or, Holy Spider is an Iranian crime-thriller narrative film half inspired by, half based on a real serial killer in the streets of Tehran in 2000-2001. The film follows a female journalist as she descends into the dark underworld of Mashhad, investigating the serial killings of sex workers by the”Spider Killer”, who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

The Eight Mountains

Based on the Italian novel of the same name, the story follows two friends from their childhood in a remote Alpine Village to their adulthood, where one remains loyal to the mountains and the other comes and goes. All the while, exploring and questioning the depth of childhood friendship, the guilt of leaving loved ones behind, the fear and inevitability of turning out like their parents, and the eventuality of loss.

Boy from Heaven

Written and directed by the Swedish-Egyptian Tarik Saleh, the stage of this film is the internationally prestigious campus of Al-Azhar University. A spy thriller, the film follows the aftermath of the sudden death of the grand imam. 

Leila’s Brothers

Another Iranian film, this one is also concerned with the life of women in Iran. The story follows Leila, who at the age of forty realises she spent her entire life caring for her parents and four brothers. All family conflicts are enwrapped in the economic state of the country, as their debt rises with the sanctions against Iran. While her brothers are struggling to make ends meet, Leila makes a plan.