‘Trapped’ 1st Egyptian film to participate in South By Southwest Festival In 10 years

CAIRO - 12 February 2021: Manal Khaled's feature debut “Trapped” will have its world premiere within the Global section at the South By Southwest Festival (March 16-20), marking the first Egyptian film to participate in the American festival in ten years. 

 

 

        Due to Covid 19 spread, the festival will be held online and will be streaming exclusively to 2000 viewers inside the USA.

 

 

The participating features are vying for the prestigious Film Independent Spirit awards.

 

 

      Global section boasts a diverse array of global filmmaking talents, featuring innovative stories, impressive documentaries and premieres from all over the world.  

   

    Trapped revolves around a number of women from different walks of life who are all under one siege.

 

As the story unfolds, their own personal stories reflect on a far bigger siege that depicts the constraints imposed on them by the male dominance in their lives be it a father, a husband, or the society and the government.

 

 

The film marks a different approach in terms of similar films that tackled the revolution.

 

 

It tells the story of women who seek to be understood rather than to be pitied and that without limiting woman to an issue of a” body” that is perceived as both the problem and the solution. 

 

 

   The film was screened for 13 minutes within the events of El Gouna Film Festival as part of efforts to raise funds for the film.

 

This comes after the creators of the film had launched a fundraising campaign for Trapped on Indiegogo website.

 

At the beginning of the shooting in 2011, the film’s creators encountered obstacles, in regards of production, which resulted in pausing the shooting more than once where no production company was available to go for the film. 

Directed and produced by Manal Khaled who co-scripted it with Rasha Azab, Trapped stars Caroline Khalil, Reem Higab, Osama Abo Al Ata, Ne’ma Mohsen, Mona Mokhtar, Tharaa Goubail, Rajwa Hamed, Zeina Mansour‎, Habiba Effat and Fadel El Garhy.

 

 

 

       Founded in 1987, South by Southwest Festival is one of the most prominent annual film festivals held in Texas, USA.

 

 

The 2021 online edition of the festival will feature a program of musical shows, film screenings, conferences as well as networking events for all those working in the entertainment industry. 

 

 

        Manal Khaled is an Egyptian filmmaker who studied Philosophy at the Alexandria University.

 

 

She worked in Misr International Films as an assistant director and has a vast experience working with award-winning directors, such as Saad Hendawi, Kamla Abo Zekri, Hani Khalifa and Mohamed Ali.

 

Also, she attended many master classes and workshops on filmmaking, screenwriting and film critique. Most recently, Manal finished shooting her long documentary An Hour or So.