Akhnaton Films announced today that Sherif Sadek’s award-winning documentary, “From Queens to Cairo” (2012) is continuing on its film-festival journey with a screening Sunday, June 23 at the San Antonio Film Festival. The festival runs from June 19 to June 23, in San Antonio, TX. nnNominations, Awards and Screeningsn• Nominated as Best Director of a Short Documentary for “From Queens to Cairo” at the Madrid International Film Festival, July 1 – 6, 2013. n• Official selection and screening in the Egyptian Works program at the 16th annual Ismailia International Film Festival in Ismailia, Egypt, June 4 – 9, 2013n• Winner of Best Feature Documentary at the Queens World Film Festival, in Queens, NY, March 2013.n• Official Selection at the Rainier Independent Film Festival, Mount Rainier, WA, May 10 – 12, 2013n• Featured on Indiewire as Project of the Day. nnThis informative and insightful documentary follows Egyptian-American filmmaker Sherif Sadek as he returns to his native Cairo with his family one year after the start of the Egyptian Revolution. With tons of misinformation in the global media, Sadek is determined to see for himself how Egyptians will navigate the bumpy road to democracy after decades of authoritarianism. His journey takes him from famed Tahrir Square to the inside of taxi cabs to rallies and slums as he searches for perspectives from all walks of life.nn
nnSherif Sadek, Akhnaton Films:nThe growing interest in this documentary by the global community is incredibly heart warming because as an American Egyptian, making this film is very personal to me. With the recent political events in Egypt, I wanted to experience history in the making and show the world the humanity, passion, and courage of the Egyptian people, no matter their political beliefs. Fortunately, I’m able to use powerful DI software tools like SCRATCH to shape the story and preserve the realistic look of day-to-day events.nnProductionnSadek shot “From Queens to Cairo” with a Nikon D7000 HDSLR. He then used ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH software to do the conforming and turned to Jason Crump at Metropolis Post for the color grading in SCRATCH. Sadek was able to do the finishing himself, using the SCRATCH Finishing software. Sadek notes, “I work with SCRATCH every day in a technical support role for ASSIMILATE, but to experience its ease-of-use and powerful tool set as a user, gave me even greater appreciation for the craft and creativity of post-production artists.”nnQuotes from the industrynDon Cato, curator of the Queens World Film Festival 2013, gave high marks to Sadek’s documentary, stating, “What at first seemed ordinary, quickly turned to an unflinching drama, drawing a line between pyramids and poverty, Cairo and New York, a people’s movement for freedom and the reactions of his children. It’s a very, very fine piece of work!” nn”When I saw this [film] at the Queens World Film Fe
Akhnaton Films Sherif Sadek 646-662-4312 Contact Sherif via email
Liz Charky Directs a Playful and Reflective Video For Henry Hall’s “Tiny Door”
Directed by Liz Charky, the music video for Henry Hall’s ‘Tiny Door’ is a playful and profound exploration of the song’s intriguing perspective on love. Silly moments and serious heartbreak are skillfully weaved together in a series of cheeky, dreamy, profound, and sometimes psychedelic scenes. “I am a huge fan of love songs that have an unusual, hyper-specific perspective on love,” says Hall. “That’s what I wanted to do with ‘Tiny Door.’ It’s about loving someone unconditionally while recognizing that love is something that isn’t always straightforward — I think that’s something we all attempt to come to terms with in our lives. I thought it was a unique yet universal detail about love and therefore an intriguing subject matter for a song. Even though the song is a ballad at its core, it still has a lighthearted sense of humor to it — that’s really portrayed well by Liz, and Ellin Aldana, our cinematographer.” Charky explains, “When I first listened to the song, I felt it was a love song full of longing with a kind of wishful melancholy. As I spoke with Henry about his intention behind the lyrics and sound, I was assured that I'd need to explore heartbreak in a nuanced way – with a degree of levity and playfulness. For me, falling in and out of love runs the full course of human expression. Love and heartbreak can be so emotionally intense and sometimes lonely, other times quite goofy or liberating. In developing the concept, I focused on both the literal and figurative ways that falling in and out of love might look like. So, you see Henry and co-star Franny Arnautou falling, flying, dancing, raging, winking, smiling, and... Read More