Dans un village du sud de l'Égypte, une étrange caravane surgit du désert. Un homme sans visage exhorte les hommes à émigrer leur faisant miroiter un eldorado de richesses et de bonheurs. Seul, le jeune Ahmed refuse de le suivre. Il veut monter au palmier le plus élevé, celui dont les dattes blanches donnent l'élixir de vie. Peu a peu Ahmed devient l'homme du village. Le monde des femmes se révèle a lui dans toute sa sensualité, ses joies et ses souffrances. Mais un jour trois hommes déçus et amers reviennent au village.

Selon la légende, l'arak (produit de la datte blanche), est l'élixir de vie qui rendrait ses forces au grand-père paralysé et donnerait à tous le bonheur. Le film dénonce les malheurs qui se sont abattus sur l'Egypte : urbanisation, désagrégation des valeurs sociales, morales et culturelles…



Thèmes : société, morale



Réalisation : Radwan El-Kashef

Production : Marianne Khoury (MISR International)

Scénario : Radwan El-Kashef

Son : Raafat Samir

Image : Tarek El-Telmessani

Montage : Rachida Abdel-Rahman

Musique : Yasser Abdel-Rahman

Décor : Onsi Abou Seif

Interprétes : SHERIHAN (Salma) / NAGATI, Mohamed (Ahmed) / AMASAIB, Fayza (Zeid El Kheir) / KAMEL, Abla (Salima) / AFIFI, Manal (Shéfa) / AHMED, Hamdi (le grand-père) / ABDEL RAHMAN, Seif (Salem) / SOLIMAN, Kamal (Sayed) / IBRAHIM, Areeg (Amna) / AL SAYED, Madiha (Nawal) / ISMAIL, Gamal

Production : Misr International Films

avec le soutien de l'OIF, Paris

Langue : Arabe. Sous-titres en français.

Support : 35 MM

Notes : INS 39 p.4



FESTIVALS



1999 | Cinémed

* Compétition Longs métrages



1999 | IFFR – International Film Festival Rotterdam

* Tiger competition



1998 | Festival des trois continents (Nantes, France)

* Prix du public et du Jeune Public



1998 | 22º Mostra Internacional de Cinema (São Paulo, Brésil)

* Compétition



CARTHAGE 1998 – Tanit d'argent



MILAN – 1999



10 ème Festival du Film Arabe de Fameck – 9 au 21 novembre 1999

'Palm sweat' is a colourful metaphor for the changing situation in the Egyptian countryside. In an oasis village, all the healthy men follow a caravan, leaving young Achmed as the only man. La sueur des palmiers (literally'the sweat of the palms') is a colourful metaphor for the changing norms and values in the Egyptian countryside, motivated by the great exodus of poor workers to the rich oil states in the Persian Gulf. From the arid desert landscape, a bizarre caravan treks through a small oasis in Upper Egypt, where palm trees offer shade from the scorching sun. The leader of the caravan talks to the villagers about distant lands filled with treasures. All the men join the caravan, apart from young Achmed, who has his own dream: to climb the highest palm tree in his oasisvillage. In it is a palm wine, a real elixir of life that could cure Achmed's grandfather, now paralysed and struck dumb. The women of the village, led by the beautiful Salma, gradually start to regard Achmed as the man of the village. Achmed is not too keen on this role, but is nevertheless drawn into what he sees as the sensual, sinister every day life of the women. In the meantime, the migrants send letters home, filled with complaints about bitter humiliations. When three men come back, they see that Achmed has grown up and influences the whole village. Achmed will have to die to wipe out their feelings of shame. With its indictment to the countryside, to the forgotten, dead south and to the problem of migration, Palm Wine forms an exception within Egyptian cinema.



Director: Radwan El Kashef

Producer: Misr International Films (Marianne Khoury)

Scenario: Radwan El Kashef

Photography: Tarek El Telmessani

Editor: Rachida Abdel Salam

Production design: Onsi Abou Seif

Sound design: Raafat Samir

Music: Yasser Abdel-Rahman

Cast : Sherihan Mohamed Nagati Fayza Amasaib Abla Kamel Hamdy Ahmed

Uma caravana aproxima-se de uma pequena aldeia no sul do Egito. Os viajantes convidam a todos para que abandonem a vida miserável e busquem a sorte no exterior. Seduzidos pelo que parece ser um excelente negócio, os homens do local embarcam em massa rumo ao desconhecido. Todos exceto Ahmed, um adolescente cujo sonho é escalar uma palmeira gigante e colher seu fruto. O sumo do fruto é um elixir que pode curar seu avô paralítico. Os homens não conseguem êxito no exterior e voltam resignados. E não aceitam que Ahmed agora se comporte como homem feito, fazendo as vezes de um líder da aldeia. E, principalmente, que tenha tido um filho com a jovem Salma, sem ter se casado com ela, contrariando as mais severas tradições de seus ancestrais



Título Original: Arack El Balah

País de origem: Egito

Ano: 1998

Diretor: Radwan El Kashef

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