During four years at a Cairo art school, Youssef comes of age, as his aspirations to become an artist run up against the prevailing taboos about art in society, the sinister encroachment of religious conservatism in higher education, and the cynicism and defeatism with which his teachers respond to it. Without compromise or inhibition, this courageous film asks basic questions about the right and freedom to imagine in a society overrun by the moral high ground of religiosity.

by Oussama Fawzi, Egypt 2009, 135 mins, with Karim Qasem, Muna Hala, Saeed Saleh, Intisar, Farah Youssef, Yusra Al-Luzi

2009 | MIEFF, Abu Dhabi
* NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
* WORLD PREMIERE