Avant d'oublier Héliopolis

My family have begun to forget their Egyptian roots and, on asking my grandmother Malo to recount the first part of her life in Cairo, I am confronted by the memories of an exiled Arabic woman, lost in a troubled sea of memories, soon to be erased by the passage of time. I start a tour to trace her steps and understand who she is, and therefore who we are. An Egypt appears where her past, my imaginings and the present Heliopolis mix together as night falls.

Valentin Noujaïm was born in France from Lebanese-Egyptian parents. He will graduate in 2020 from the screenwriting department at La Fémis. Valentin writes and directs films tackling issues such as immigration, post-colonialism, identities, sexuality and queerness, with marginalized yet romantic characters, in dystopian or fantastic universes.