by Alex Deleon LUST (Al Shooq) is an Egyptian film set in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean. However the part of the city we see is no tourist dream -- but a poverty stricken warren of side streets where the central figure, Umm Shooq, a charismatic possessed lady, and her two mod daughters live. When her youngest son falls seriously ill with a kidney condition and needs dialysis treatment --very expensive -- she is forced to beg on the streets to raise the money. When she...

Four awards were presented tonight within the framework of the closing event of Filmfest Hamburg in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor:The Hamburg Film Critics Award, presented this year for the fourth time by ‘DerSpiegel’, ‘Stern’, ‘Hamburger Abendblatt’ and ‘NDR 90,3’, went to the English film ‘Control’ (director: Anton Corbijn, German distributor: capelight pictures).Endowed with 30,000 euros by the Department of Economy and Finance, the TVProduzentenpreis (TV Producers Award) we...

MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL: TREASURES IN THE DARK (WHILE THE SUN IS SHINING) "The sun is still shining", a visiting filmmaker groaned. "Will anyone come to sit in the dark and see my film?" The answer was a resounding YES, as the Miami Film Festival wrapped its most successful session in years this past weekend. Re-energized by the leadership of former Sundance topper Nicole Guillemet, the Festival clearly has tapped into a winning formula of international premieres, American independent films and an i...

MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL: TREASURES IN THE DARK (WHILE THE SUN IS SHINING) "The sun is still shining", a visiting filmmaker groaned. "Will anyone come to sit in the dark and see my film?" The answer was a resounding YES, as the Miami Film Festival wrapped its most successful session in years this past weekend. Re-energized by the leadership of former Sundance topper Nicole Guillemet, the Festival clearly has tapped into a winning formula of international premieres, American independent films and an i...