Escaping Tel Aviv
{{Infobox film
| name = Escaping Tel Aviv
| image = Welad El Am poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Sherif Arafa
| producer = Hesham Abdel Khalek
| writer = Amr Samir Atef
| starring = Karim Abdel Aziz
Mona Zaki
Sherif Mounir
| editing = Dalia El-Nasser
| music = Omar Khairat
| cinematography = Ayman Abu El-Makarem
| studio = Al-Nasr - Oscar - Al-Masah
| distributor = Diamond Art Production
| released = {{Film date|2009|11|13}}
| runtime =
| country = Egypt
| language = Egyptian Arabic, Hebrew
| gross =
}}
Welad El-Am ({{langx|ar|ولاد العم}}; {{langx|en|The Cousins}}), known internationally as Escaping Tel Aviv, is a 2009 Egyptian film directed by Sherif Arafa and starring Karim Abdel Aziz, Mona Zaki and Sherif Mounir.{{cite news |title='Welad El-Am': A simplistic confrontation with a reinvented enemy |url=http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/uncategorized/welad-el-am-a-simplistic-confrontation-with-a-reinvented-enemy-dp1.html |work=Daily News Egypt |date=10 December 2009 |accessdate=2 January 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}(18 March 2010). [http://www.trouw.nl/cultuur/film/article3018052.ece/Joden_in_de_schurkenrol__in_drakerig_actiethriller__.html Joden in de schurkenrol in drakerig actiethriller], Trouw (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (critical review saying the movie glorifies Arabs and paints Israeli Jews as villains, just as bad as Hollywood films painting Arabs as villains)(16 March 2010). [http://www.nu.nl/film/2205843/deze-film-doorbreekt-taboe-in-arabische-wereld.html Deze film doorbreekt taboe in Arabische wereld], NU.nl (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (reporting that film caused much controversy in Arab media)
Cast
- Karim Abdel Aziz (Mostafa)
- Mona Zaki (Salwa)
- Sherif Mounir (Ezzat Abdelhamid/Daniel Navon)
- Entessar (Rachel)
- Salim Kallas (Youshir, Director of Assassinations for Mossad)
- Sabry Abdel Monem (Bodour, Director of Egyptian Intelligence)
- Kinda Alloush (Darren)
- Iman (Sarah, Daniel’s mother)
- Yasser Ali Maher (GIS officer)
- Gerges Jabara (Abu Ziyad)
- Adham Morshed (Abed)
Plot
Salwa (played by Mona Zaki) is an Egyptian woman who discovers that her husband (played by Sherif Mounir) is a Mossad agent and abducts her with her two young children to Israel. Mostafa (Karim Abdel Aziz), a GIS officer is assigned to rescue Salwa and her children and bring them back to Egypt.
Production
Among many vicissitudes with the filming was an interruption of more than three months while the National Security Agency and other government entities reviewed the script, given the movie’s centering on the intelligence services and foreign relations with Israel and other nations.
Star Karim Abdel Aziz was injured filming an action scene when he fell two floors due to the snap of a guy wire. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery on his foot, followed by physical therapy in Germany, delaying the film’s completion by another two months.{{cite web |title=Escaping Tel Aviv |url=http://www.karim-abdelaziz.com/wilad_el3am.html |website=Karim Abdel Aziz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003090402/http://www.karim-abdelaziz.com/wilad_el3am.html |archive-date=October 3, 2017}}
Filming took eight weeks and was completed both outside Egypt (in Cape Town, South Africa and the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, the latter with the blessing of the government of Syria) and domestically (in Port Said and at Cairo’s Studio Misr and Studio Ahmos.{{cite web |title=بــرنـــ TOP CINEMA !¤ ولاد العم |url=https://www.startimes.com/f.aspx?t=33588230 |website=Star Times |access-date=25 November 2022 |date=November 26, 2013}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=1650844|title=Escaping Tel Aviv}}
- [https://elcinema.com/en/work/1601492 El Cinema page]
Category:Egyptian political films
Category:2000s Arabic-language films
Category:Anti-Zionism in Egypt
Category:Films about the Arab–Israeli conflict
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