Khaled Al-Sawy and Mohamed Sallam star in “Lel-Eygar”, which premiered on Wednesday in cinemas. Written and directed by Islam Belal, Egyptian writer and director who had directed several international award-winning short films, Lel-Eygar is his first feature film. “Trendify” spoke with the director for a closer look into the film’s production and his thoughts on his career.
Plot
The film discusses solitude and its effect on people causing them to contemplate ending their lives, as we’ve seen throughout the past few years, but in a different perspective, which is far from any depressing ideas or sadness, through a comedic lens. It addresses the concept of loneliness and that if you don’t have anyone to love, you’re considered alive but dead.
This is shown through Mokhtar Abd El-Hayy, played by Khaled Al-Sawy, who is a retired navy captain, living alone in an apartment facing the sea in Alexandria. He rents a room in that apartment, to have people come and go in his life and experience their stories with them.
Mokhtar then meets Khaled, played by Mohamed Sallam, who is an introverted character, and stays in Mokhtar’s rental room for a month, and they go through several conflicts on and off against each other. Both characters realize by the end that they must continue to live and try to experience as much as they can from what life has to offer.
Working with actor Khaled Al-Sawy
He was of great support to me ever since the first script reading. He’s an extremely professional person, although he’s also a director, he never intruded in my work as a director and focused on his acting role. He gave me plenty of tips and advice and was supportive until the moment the film premiered.
Filming in a Pandemic
We were done with filming by the end of December 2020, we had hoped to premier earlier but due to the lockdowns we were forced to postpone as the cinemas were closed. The Coronavirus had definitely affected our production, and the producer worried whether the film’s budget would be spent in vain if the film was not met with enough recognition due to the restrictions.
It was definitely difficult as a crew to film with the precautionary measures necessary, but now we are used to the situation and know how to manage it carefully.
Most difficult obstacle
The pandemic of course was a great obstacle; however, finding the right apartment that suits the storyline and not resorting to a studio and visual effects was another obstacle we faced. We hoped to have real scenery from the apartment’s windows as it was supposed to overlook the sea in Alexandria, and this took us quite a while to find. We ended up finding an old hotel in Mahatet El-Raml and transformed it into an apartment.
Casting
We aimed to find the right actors that suited the characters in the story. Although Mohamed Sallam is known only for his comedy roles, we see great potential in him that suits this character, Khaled. And of course, Khaled Al-Sawy was the perfect casting for this role.
Motive for this Production
Personally, I hoped that my first film would be a human interest story, something I would enjoy creating that would have a positive impact on audiences. I hoped to create a family movie, a story with relatable characters and events, which is shown through a humorous way that is light and breezy. We as Egyptians enjoy comedy even through our darkest times.
The film is through a nostalgic lens with the old apartment in Alexandria, its streets and the whole concept of the story brings us back to the 1990’s and the early 21st century.
Future Plans
I’m working on a few projects but I’m not really in a hurry, I hope to create something I am invested in and excited to work on, a perspective that people would hope to see portrayed in the film industry. This process takes time and effort, I try to be different with a purpose.