Short Summary
The Shadow of Cairo tackles the story of a 14-year-old Egyptian girl, Maya, whose mother died during a minor surgery. The protagonist, in mourning and anger, chooses to believe that the surgeon who operated on her was distracted by various societal issues – the ‘lurking monsters’ of Egypt. Maya, heavily influenced by Superhero pop-culture, decides to become a superhero vigilante to fight those monsters and avenge her mother.
After a series of realistic crime-fighting, where the protagonist attempts to make a change, Maya begins to question the monsters and her limited power.
Why make this film?
Aside this story being very personal and significant for the director, The Shadow of Cairo is essential on a much bigger scale. The film demonstrates the beauty and richness present in Egypt while discussing societal issues, all with the use of fantasy.
The film market lacks Egyptian feminist fantastical films and we really cannot wait to fill this gap.
The Shadow of Cairo is led by a female protagonist and discusses women’s status in Egypt. This makes it even more notable and significant with the current statistics of men dominating the film industry. According to statistics released as part of the BFI’s Filmography in British Film, analyzing 10,000 films and 250,000 cast and crew members, less than 1% of films made between 1913 and 2017 had a majority female crew. Furthermore, only 4.5% of all films worldwide have been directed by a woman (BFI study, 2017).
The Impact
We aim to raise this budget in order to rent the necessary kit, locations and pay our talent and crew. It sadly isn’t cheap to make films (specifically one of this genre) and the whole crew is putting so much into this - we’re determined to work as hard as possible to fulfil this film’s potential. So please support us in any way you can, by donating or spreading the word.
Challenges
One of the major challenges is securing the necessary funds to get the right equipment, rent out locations and making sure the cast and crew are fed and happy. Reaching our goal in this crowd fund campaign will help us cover the necessary funds to make a great film.
Making a film can be tough, but we've already gathered some of the best talent out there. Our producer, director, cinematographer, editor and writers have had a lot of experience with professional and high-level filmmaking in the past 5 years. They really all are passionate and dedicated filmmakers who would do anything to make their dreams of filmmaking come true and be able to put stories on the screen.
Other Ways You Can Help
We will be very grateful for any kind of support you can offer, whether it's donating or spreading the word by sharing this page!