Chicago – “Cairo Time” may be a serene and intricately nuanced romance between an American woman (Patricia Clarkson) and an Arab man (Alexander Siddig) in Cairo. But behind the cameras, the atmosphere felt more like an action movie, as filmmakers outwitted government censors by finding endless creative ways to capture their desired footage, in the midst of a bustling city that was largely out of their control.
HollywoodChicago.com spoke with “Cairo Time” writer/director Ruba Nadda about her passion for exploring her Arab heritage, her mind-boggling production hurdles, and why filmmaking has become a family affair for her.
HollywoodChicago.com: Your first feature, “Sabah,” was about an Arab immigrant in Toronto, whereas “Cairo Time” is about an American in Cairo. What draws you to exploring these cultural juxtapositions?
Ruba Nadda: It’s funny because it only dawned on me afterwards when I was like, “Oh this is kind of...
HollywoodChicago.com spoke with “Cairo Time” writer/director Ruba Nadda about her passion for exploring her Arab heritage, her mind-boggling production hurdles, and why filmmaking has become a family affair for her.
HollywoodChicago.com: Your first feature, “Sabah,” was about an Arab immigrant in Toronto, whereas “Cairo Time” is about an American in Cairo. What draws you to exploring these cultural juxtapositions?
Ruba Nadda: It’s funny because it only dawned on me afterwards when I was like, “Oh this is kind of...
- 12/3/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – While “Sex and the City 2” and “Eat Pray Love” failed to impress their female target audience this summer, a small art house treasure flew under practically everyone’s radar. It brilliantly delivered precisely what moviegoers expected from those mainstream turkeys, without a trace of cultural insensitivity or superficial excess. That film was “Cairo Time,” and it deserves to be discovered on the small screen.
Though I was careful not to overpraise this lovely morsel of a film during its initial release, it’s clear that “Cairo” is one of the year’s most under-appreciated gems. Arab Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda specializes in small-scale, intricately nuanced dramas, often featuring a romance between characters with different religious backgrounds, one of them being Islamic. Yet Nadda isn’t interested in pushing any incendiary buttons. If anything, her films break down cultural barriers by allowing their characters to connect on a human...
Though I was careful not to overpraise this lovely morsel of a film during its initial release, it’s clear that “Cairo” is one of the year’s most under-appreciated gems. Arab Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda specializes in small-scale, intricately nuanced dramas, often featuring a romance between characters with different religious backgrounds, one of them being Islamic. Yet Nadda isn’t interested in pushing any incendiary buttons. If anything, her films break down cultural barriers by allowing their characters to connect on a human...
- 12/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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