Film Archive

Dream Away

Documentary Films - Competition 2018 / Dream Away / Germany, Egypt 2018

Synopsis

It hasn’t been so very long since rich tourists from around the world came to stay in the luxury hotels of Sharm El Sheikh. But the Arab Spring and the confusion of the post revolutionary period quickly robbed the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula of its charm as a go-to summer resort. An Egyptian filmmaker and a visual artist from Germany demonstrate that partially staging their work needn’t be at odds with authenticity. In their documentary, saturated with elements of surreal fiction, they set out to visit the last inhabitants of the shimmering city of ghosts – resort employees who feverishly dream among the abandoned hotel suites. How hard is it to balance a traditional lifestyle with the unbridled liberalism of a place in a Middle Eastern wasteland where an island of Western razzle-dazzle is slowly sinking?

Martin Horyna

About the film

86 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Marouan Omara, Johanna Domke / Screenplay Johanna Domke, Marouan Omara / Dir. of Photography Jakob Beurle / Music Bilgehan Ozis / Editor Gesa Jäger, Louly Seif / Producer Roman Roitman / Production Monokel / Coproduction Fig Leaf Studios, Fruitmarket Kultur and Mediem GmbH / Sales WIDE HOUSE / Contact Alibi Communications
www: https://www.facebook.com/Dream-Away-752908091552786/

About the director

Marouan Omara (b. 1987, Cairo, Egypt). Selected filmography: Taxi (2008, short), Crop (2013, medium-length, co-dir. Johanna Domke), The Visit (Azziara, 2015, medium-length, co-dir. Nadia Mounier), One Plus One Makes a Pharaoh’s Chocolate Cake (2017, short)

Johanna Domke (b. 1978, Kiel, Germany). Selected filmography: A Sunset Takes 7 Minutes (2005, short), Cuers (2008, short), Stultifera Garden (2009, short), Lake in the Mirror (Søen i spejlet, 2010, short), 100% Yün (2010, short), Untitled-Epilog (2011), Crop (2013, medium-length, co-dir. Marouan Omara)