Mariam goes to a public hospital with her husband and her daughter, bleeding and suffering from a severe pain in her abdomen. After the medical examination things escalate between Mariam and her husband.
Original Title Ma la na'refo an Mariam Year of production 2021 Length 25min Country Egypt Shooting Format Digital 2K Aspect Ratio 4:3 Dialogue Arabic Director Morad Mostafa Producer Sherif Elbendary Production Africa Films Co-Production Concave Art Prodcution Writer Morad Mostafa Cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef Editor Mohamed Mamdouh Art Director Adham ElHelaly Sound Designer & Mixer Mostafa Shaban Costume Design Nour Fawzi First Assistant Director Fady Akarm Executive Producer Ahmed Zayan Line Producer Sawsan Yusuf Colorist Rami Eid Cast Doaa Ereiqat, Emad Ghoniem, Osama Abdallah, Noran Wageh
Festival selections Festival du Court Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand 2021, France - World Premiere Mecal - Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival 2021, Spain - Third Award, International Competition BAFICI - Buenos Aires International Film Festival 2021, Argentina Kortfilmfestivalen/The Norwegian Short Film Festival 2021, Norway Prague Short Film Festival 2021, Czech Republic Les Nuits MED - Festivale di u Filmucortu 2021, France - Prix de la Critique Palm Springs International ShortFest 2021, USA Shanghai International Film Festival 2021, China Mediterranean Film Festival Split 2021, Croatia Festival Internacional de Cine de València – Cinema Jove 2021, Spain Ischia Film Festival 2021, Italy SAFAR Film Festival 2021, UK Leiden Shorts 2021, Netherlands Monterrey International Film Festival 2021, Mexico Festival Silhouette 2021, France Sedicicorto International Film Festival 2021, Italy - Movie Award, Best International Short Film HollyShorts Film Festival 2021, USA FICBUEU - Bueu International Short Film Festival 2021, Spain - Best Director Award BFI London Film Festival 2021, UK Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2021, Armenia Cinemed - Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier 2021, France Leeds International Film Festival 2021, UK Lumières d'Afrique Film Festival 2021, France Baku International Short Film Festival 2021, Azerbaijan Rencontres du Film Court de Madagascar 2021 Macau International Short Film Festival 2021 BOGOSHORTS - Bogotá Short Film Festival 2021, Colombia International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala 2021, India Festival Internacional de Cine de Iquique 2021, Chile - Jury Special Mention Passaggi d’Autore - Mediterranean Short Film Festival 2021, Italy Vilnius International Short Film Festival 2022, Lithuania London Short Film Festival 2022, UK Dhaka International Film Festival 2022, Bangladesh Sofia Menar Film Festival 2022, Bulgaria Sanfici - Santander Festival Internacional De Cine Independiente 2022, Colombia Film O’Clock International Festival 2022 Aswan International Women Film Festival 2022, Egypt IFSAK Short Film Festival 2022, Turkey Akbank Short Film Festival 2022, Turkey Landshut Short Film Festival 2022, Germany Afrika Filmfestival 2022, Belgium Master international Film Festival 2022, Tunisia Santiago del Estero Film Festival 2022, Argentina Nova Frontier Film Festival 2022, USA Social World Film Festival 2022, Italy KO:SH Film Fest 2022, Albania Galichnik Film Festival 2022, Republic of Macedonia - Best Director Award, Best Cinematography Award Across The Lake Film Festival Festival 2022, Republic of Macedonia - Best Short Film Award, Best Director Award Festival cinémas d'Afrique - Lausanne 2022, Switzerland Minikino Film Week – Bali International Short Film Festival 2022, Indonesia CinemAfrica Film Festival 2022, Sweden Festival Internacional De Cortometrajes Cine A La Calle 2022, Colombia Casablanca Arab Film Festival 2022, Morocco - Best Director Award Still Voices Short Film Festival 2022, Ireland Festival Africlap Toulouse 2022, France - Special Mention Duhok International Film Festival 2022, Iraq
Director's Statement When I started writing this film, which is the second short for me, I was sure that I’m still hooked up to the narration method that I started in my first film; which is a dramatic build up that explodes from event that may be just a transient action or through a coincidence. This event creates a state of hidden tension in the building of the story and in the relationships between the characters that grows like a snow ball rolling in snow through the film. In "What we don’t know about Mariam", the transient dramatic event early in the film and is similar to the big stone that is thrown into stagnant water to reveal the nature of the relationship between the husband and wife, the problems between married people has now become the largest proportion within the Egyptian society with a variety and differences between a family and another. I started to think about that subject when I was in a local hospital waiting; and I witnessed a violent quarrel between a husband and a wife; and of course we didn’t know the reason behind such an escalation, but when I thought about it I had the feeling that the reason is not important and quarrels should never escalate to that point. At that time, I decided to write my next movie about the strained marital relationships within the Egyptian society, which have become present in many different places, such as hospitals, police stations, and Public Street. I like to always have lots of questions surrounding my simple social topics, questions to be asked and assumptions rather than providing solutions or closed brackets, as throughout the whole film questions appear and then disappears leaving place for other questions to surface! And we know a little less about Mariam with every question!
