Al Momia

Trauma/Memory: Egypt in 1881, one year before the country is occupied by British colonial forces: on the day the head of the Hurabat clan is entombed, his sons find out a carefully guarded secret: in order to secure the livelihood of the clan in times of difficulty, the family elders have been looting thousand-year-old pharaohs’ graves and selling the treasures they find there on the black market. The oldest son refuses to continue with the desecration and robbery and is murdered. The younger son wrestles with his personal past, his loyalty towards his family and his relationship to the history of his country. The exterior shots in the barren rock, mountain and desert landscapes shot exclusively at dusk and dawn and the stylized production design and color palette make AL MOMIA into a dreamlike experience and a milestone in Egyptian cinema.