What a long way we have come since El-Barsha, a small village located in the south of Egypt, about 200 kilometers from Cairo… It is there that the Egyptian filmmakers Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir met, in 2017, a group of young Coptic women (Christians from Egypt) practicing street theater to exorcise the evils from which they suffer: early marriage, harassment, body control… In front of the stunned or hostile residents, they empty their bags, chant their slogans, some in dresses, bare arms. They make noise in every sense of the word with their percussions, one with her darbouka, another with a kind of maracas… They may have been insulted, boys have thrown stones at them, but they continue.
The director couple talks about a “little miracle” when they talk about this incredible experience which gave birth to a documentary, Daughters of the Nile, presented in Cannes during Critics’ Week – distributor Dulac will soon release the film in theaters. Filmed over more than four years, The Brink of Dreamsan international title, can be devoured like a miniseries with its dramatic twists, the departure of a girl, the argument with a fiancé, family life, slippery rehearsals… The spontaneity of the protagonists is striking, whether they are for or against female performers.
The other miracle is that they managed to make the trip to accompany the world premiere of the film: Friday May 17, Majda Masoud, Haidi Sameh, Myriam Nassar, Monika Youssef (the singer of the group, mother of two children), and others strolled under the sun of the Croisette, in jeans and t-shirts, carrying their instruments. A few passers-by joined in the spectacle by discovering the slogans brandished on signs (in French and English): “I can’t wear a dress”, “My clothes are not the problem”etc.
Unforgettable stories
Cannes is also that, furtive connections between worlds which have little chance, if not none, of crossing paths. Around a table, where they were finishing their dessert, we spent a moment with these young women who do not yet make a living from their art – some of them have food jobs. We find the faces which have been imprinted on the retina, so much the stories of these Daughters of the Nile are unforgettable. They speak in Arabic and the directors translate into English.
There is Haidi Sameh, glitter on her eyelids, who has always dreamed of becoming a dancer and joining a ballet. In the film, we discover that she has a fiancé. We are happy for her, but we also tremble, because her lover calmly explains to her that once married, she will have to stay at home and stop acting. He asks her for her cell phone in order to delete her girlfriends’ contacts. She tries to argue, he gets annoyed and the atmosphere darkens. “I broke up with this boy and met another one”, Haidi explains to us, all smiles. She is resourceful and has great parents.
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