Project Detail

In the Last Days of the City (Akher ayam el madina)

Synopsis

Downtown Cairo, 2009. Khalid, a 35-year-old filmmaker is struggling to make a film that captures the soul of his city while facing loss in his own life. With the help of his friends, who send him footage from their lives in Beirut, Baghdad and Berlin, he finds the strength to keep going through the difficulty and beauty of living In the last days of the city.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Debate Strand

Details

Year
2016
Type of project
Features
Running time
118 mins
Director
Tamer El Said 1st Feature
Producer
Tamer El Said, Khalid Abdalla, Hana Al Bayaty, Michel Balagué, Marcin Malaszczak, and Cat Villiers
Editor
Mohamed Abdel Gawad, Vartan Avakian, Barbara Bossuet
Screenwriter
Tamer El Said, Rasha Salti
Director of Photography
Bassem Fayad
Production Designer
Salah Marei
Sound
Sound Designer, Sound Recordist: Victor Bresse; Sound Mixer: Mikaël Barre
Composer
Amélie Legrand, Victor Moïse
Principal cast
Khalid Abdalla, Laila Samy, Hanan Youssef, Maryam Saleh, Hayder Helo, Basim Hajar, Bassem Fayad
Funding
Made with the financial support of The World Cinema Fund, SANAD - The Development and Post-Production Fund of twofour54 Abu Dhabi, AFAC - The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Cinereach, The Ford Foundation, The Global Film Initiative, The Cultural Resource, Fonds Francophone Audiovisuelle du Sud, Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo, Goethe-Insitut Cairo. The film is also a recipient of the 2015 Torino Film Lab World Distribution Award, the 2010 Carthage CNC Prize for Work In Progress, and the 2014 Takmil JCC Post-Production award (Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage).

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Egypt, UK, Germany, United Arab Emirates coproduction

Zero Production (Egypt), Sunnyland Film (Egypt), Autonomous (UK), Mengamuk Films (Germany)

Autonomous

Cat Villiers
10 Orange Street
London
WC2H 7DQ

Sales Company

Still Moving

Pierre Menahem
6 rue Boissonade
75014 Paris
France

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

About A Bell About A Bell

Director: Simon Callow

Year: 2026

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.

Steiner Steiner

Director: Remo Pini

Year: 2028

The dramatic true story of Austrian visionary, Rudolf Steiner who against ridicule, controversy and attempts on his life, developed an intricate philosophy based on his ability to research and perceive spiritual dimensions.

British-Mexican woman sat on her bed with a tray on her drawing a comic. Chasing Home

Director: Christopher Mills

Year: 2026

A British-Mexican comedy, the first one of its kind in terms of representation, about identity, family dynamics, and the relentless pressure to “have it all together” by your 30s. The film explores the universal themes of self-worth, envy, and societal expectations, while asking a core question: What makes someone a failure in the eyes of themselves and others? At its heart, this is the story of Camila, a 30-year-old British-Mexican comic book creator whose life is spiralling out of control. As she faces a job loss, mounting financial pressure, and the revelation that her 51-year-old mother is unexpectedly pregnant, Camila's desperation grows. She’s torn between familial obligations and her own dreams of independence, symbolised by a flat she can no longer afford. Her personal journey is a chaotic and sometimes humorous collision of cultural expectations, family dysfunction, and her own insecurities.