TRAILERS

Promo Trailer for 'Boy From Heaven' Film About Corruption in Egypt

by Alex Billington
October 31, 2022

"Make sure he is elected." Memento International has revealed an official trailer for an acclaimed film titled Boy From Heaven, set entirely in Egypt even though it's actually a Swedish production. This premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award, and has since played at numerous other festivals including the Zurich, Hamburg, London, Busan, Vancouver, Ghent, Mill Valley Film Fests. On the first day back after summer, the grand imam collapses and dies in front of students at a religious university in Cairo. This marks the start of a ruthless battle for influence to take his place. The film is about corruption and how even the most holy organization, the prestigious Al-Azhar University located in Cairo, is susceptible to horrible power play dynamics. The film stars Tawfeek Barhom as Adam, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi, Moe Ayoub, Sherwan Haji, and Ahmed Lassaoui. I was a fan of this one in Cannes, mostly because it's so frighteningly honest about corruption, but the reviews were mixed from critics. I hope it gets a US release set soon - expected to open early 2023.

Here's the new international trailer (+ poster) for Tarik Saleh's Boy From Heaven, from YouTube:

Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), the talented son of a fisherman, accepts an offer to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. Shortly after his arrival, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar suddenly dies and a power struggle to replace him ensues. Adam gets caught up in the corruption and politics. Boy From Heaven, originally known as Walad Min Al Janna or ولد من الجنة in Arabic, is both written and directed by award-winning Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh, director of the films Metropia, Tommy, The Nile Hilton Incident, and this year's The Contractor previously. Produced by Fredrik Zander and Kristina Åberg, co-produced by Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, and Alexandre Mallet-Guy. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year playing in the Main Competition, where it won the Best Screenplay award. It already opened in France a few months ago. Memento International will debut Saleh's Boy From Heaven in the UK starting in March 2023. No US release date has been set - stay tuned. Who's intrigued?

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