The Night of Counting the Years (Al Momia) November 12, 2010

Part of the BAMcinématek series World Cinema Foundation

Directed by Shadi Abdel Salam
With Ahmed Marei, Ahmed Hegazi

(1969) 103min

“An entrancing and oddly moving experience… Past and present, desecration and veneration, the urge to conquer death and the acceptance that we, and all we know, will turn to dust…a seemingly massive theme that the director, Shadi Abdel Salam, somehow manages to address, even embody with his images.”—Martin Scorsese

Acknowledged as one of the greatest Egyptian films ever made, The Night of Counting the Years is a fascinating and hauntingly beautiful (it was shot only at dawn and twilight to give the images an ethereal quality) examination of Egypt’s cultural identity about an archeologist who travels to a remote tribal land to investigate the appearance of ancient artifacts on the black market.

With The Eloquent Peasant (Shakavi el Flash el Fasi)

Directed by Shadi Abdel Salam
With Ahmed Marei

(1970) 20min

Based on one of the major literary texts of the Middle Kingdom, The Eloquent Peasant is a morality/folk tale about a peasant wrongly accused of theft.

Both films in Arabic with English titles.

Official Website: http://bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2730