‘Captains of Za'atari’ has its Mena premiere at El Gouna Film Festival

The documentary about two Syrian refugees chasing football dreams was the only Arab film at this year’s Sundance

A still from 'Captains of Za'atari', an official selection of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Photo: Sundance Institute

Captains of Za'atari, a documentary about two teenage Syrian refugees chasing their dreams to become professional footballers, was screened in the Arab world for the first time at El Gouna Film Festival on Saturday.

The film is one of 10 documentaries competing at the fifth El Gouna Film Festival on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. There are also 16 feature narratives and 23 short films in competition.

Directed by Egyptian Ali El Arabi, Captains of Za'atari was the only Arab film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“It’s an incredible feeling to have an Arab audience watch the film,” El Arabi told The National after the screening.

He credited El Gouna Film Festival for helping connect him with creative and financial support through the CineGouna Platform. The film had received several post-production awards at the CineGouna Springboard, a project development and co-production lab, in the festival’s third edition.

“Without Gouna, there would be no Captains of Za'atari,” El Arabi said.

Making his feature documentary debut, El Arabi spent eight years working on the film in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. He followed two best friends Mahmoud and Fawzi as they strive to reach their football dreams and leave their difficult circumstances behind.

“It’s a very inspiring project,” Amjad Abu Alala, the film’s co-producer, told The National. “It was really joyful during the lockdown to work on those drafts to make this film and then show it to the world.”

Abu Alala said the fact El Arabi filmed for seven years gave him ample material to create a dramatic element to the documentary.

The film was among six projects selected for the work-in-progress Final Cut in Venice at the Venice International Film Festival. It premiered at Sundance, has participated in 82 international festivals and was nominated for 15 awards.

Egyptian director Ali El Arabi after an interview about his documentary 'Captains of Za'atari', at the 5th El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt on October 18, 2021. Reuters

Syrian actress Nesreen Tafesh on the red carpet during the film festival. Photo: El Gouna Film Festival. AFP

Egyptian actress and co-founder of the film festival Bushra Rozza on the red carpet. Photo: El Gouna Film Festival; AFP

Egyptian actor Hassan Abouelrouss on the red carpet. Photo: El Gouna Film Festival; AFP

Tunisian actress Fatma Nasser on the red carpet. Photo: El Gouna Film Festival; AFP

The CineGouna Platform had its opening on Saturday – day three of the festival that runs until next Friday. The platform incorporates 20 cinematic projects in development or post-production and will award a total of $300,000.

Earlier on Saturday, a retrospective exhibition of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski opened, commemorating the 25th anniversary of his passing. Curated by Egyptian production designer and art director Onsi Abou Seif, the exhibition presents the life and works of the director best known for the Three Colours trilogy.

On Sunday, American film director Darren Aronofsky will give a masterclass, for which the organisers changed the venue to the main screening plaza to meet high demand. His films include Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler.

The festival includes 75 international and regional feature narratives, short films and documentaries from 44 countries, with eight world and two international premieres.