In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people representing the whole of Egyptian society - among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman - find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours. Working brilliantly within its limitations of time and place, Salah Abu Seif's Between Heaven and Earth, from a screenplay co-written by Naguib Mahfouz, is a triumph of modern cinema. A film by Salah Abu Seif 1960 | Egypt | Arabic | English subtitles, 100 min. | Black & White | 35mm When Between Heaven and Earth was released in 1959, it was considered an artistic adventure fearlessly undertaken by director Salah Abu Seif. The action takes place in a single location -an elevator -over the course of an hour and a half. The film is in real time -its duration is the same as that of the events it depicts. Nothing is provided in the writing or the direction of the film to remedy this severely limited space. Further, there are neither flashbacks nor cut-aways into the thoughts of the actors as a means to reveal more about them and their trajectories. It is a weekday afternoon in the unforgiving blast of Cairo's summer heat, in a large building in the heart of the city. Developed by Naguib Mahfouz (who wrote the story specifically for the screen) and Abu Seif, the characters -among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman -are archetypes that represent the different strata and classes of Egyptian society in the'50s -classes that are still very much in place in Egypt today. This fact alone points to the timelessness and of a film that was first shown more than 50 years ago. Between Heaven and Earth remains a remarkable triumph of modern cinema. -Ali Abu Shadi (5th Abu Dhabi Film Festival - ADFF 2011) Director: Salah Abou Seif Screenwriter: Naguib Mahfouz, El Sayed Bedeir, Salah Abou Seif Cinematographer: Wahid Farid Art Director: Hilmi Azab Editor: Emil Bahri Sound: Grigor Music: Fouad El Zahery Production Company: Dinar Film Cast: Hind Rostom, Abdel Salam Al Nabulsi, Mahmoud El Meligi, Abdelmunim Ibrahim, Said Abu Bakr, Zizi Mustafa, Yacoub Mikhail, Ahmed Loksar, Abdel Ghani Nagdi 2011 | 5th Abu Dhabi Film Festival - ADFF 2011 | Oct. 13-22, 2011 * Special Programs - Naguib Mahfouz - Man of Cinema www.abudhabifilmfestival.ae/en/program/films/2011/detail?f=6049 1979 | 1er Festival des 3 Continents | NANTES, France | www.3continents.com * HOMMAGE A SALAH ABOU SEIF - EGYPTE