Neighbors

Giran

Egypt

2009

105 Min

Color

English, French, Arabic

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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SCR Tahani Rashed, Mouna Assad

When it was first developed, Garden City was meant to be a new outpost for Cairo’s indigenous colonial elites to display wealth with reserved elegance. Today, the “war against terror” security measures of the US and British embassies prohibit access and mobility, and the impact on everyday life has been disastrous. The neighborhood has become an isolated inlet, detached from the city, its residents resisting as best they can. Neighbors delves into the history of Garden City, sweeping away the dust of neglect that obscures the neighborhood’s palatial villas and their ravishing craftsmanship. Masterfully avoiding cheap nostalgia, Rashed travels from the opulent salons of the haves to the makeshift rooftop living rooms of the have-nots. Neighbors also interviews Garden City’s most well-known intelligentsia, including artist Adel Siwi, dentist and novelist Ala’ al-Aswany (The Yacoubian Building), and late philosopher and militant Mahmud Amin el-‘Alem. What emerges is not only a slice of the country’s history, but the profound sense of belonging shared across classes. —MEIFF

Director

Tahani Rached

Born in Egypt, Tahani Rached settled in Quebec in 1966. After attending Montreal’s École des Beaux-Arts, she was involved in community action until she made her first film, POUR FAIRE CHANGEMENT (1972), a documentary produced by Le Vidéographe, which set the tone for all her future work. In 1979, her first feature film, LES VOLEURS DE JOBS, revealed her distinctive view of the world. A documentary on immigration, it demonstrated her ability to capture reality. This was followed by a series of six half-hour documentaries for Radio-Quebec on Quebec’s Arab community.

As a NFB staff filmmaker from 1980 to 2004, she tackled sensitive topics: war in BEIRUT! NOT ENOUGH DEATH TO GO ROUND (1983); the resourcefulness of the disadvantaged, through the songs in AU CHIC RESTO POP (1990); and a doctor’s battle against AIDS in DOCTORS WITH HEART (1993). FOUR WOMEN OF EGYPT (1997) features four women who couldn’t be more different but who are nevertheless united in their search for meaning and… read more