''Welad El-Am'' ( ar, ولاد العم; en, The Cousins), known internationally as ''Escaping Tel Aviv'', is a 2009

Egyptian film The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, sometimes also referred to as Hollywood on the Nile. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the Intern ...

directed by

Sherif Arafa Sherif Arafa ( ar, شريف عرفة) (born on December 25, 1960) is an Egyptian director, writer and producer. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in 1982. Sharif Arafa participated in the making of many of the movies in the histor ...

and starring

Karim Abdel Aziz Karim Abdel Aziz ( ar, كريم عبد العزيز) (born August 17, 1975) is an Egyptian actor. He is the son of instructor Mohammad Abdul Aziz and nephew of film director Omar Abdel Aziz Biography Karim Abdel Aziz was born August 17, 1975 ...

, Sherif Mounir and

Mona Zaki Mona Ali Mohamed Zaki ( ar, منى علي محمد زكي; born 18 November 1976) is an Egyptian actress. Biography Mona Zaki was born to her parents Ali Mohamed Zaki and Tahani on November 18, 1976. Until the age of 13, she lived in Kuwait. A ...

.(18 March 2010)
Joden in de schurkenrol in drakerig actiethriller
''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Tr ...

'' (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (critical review saying the movie glorifies Arabs and paints Israeli Jews as villains, just as bad as Hollywood films painting Arabs as villains)(16 March 2010)
Deze film doorbreekt taboe in Arabische wereld
'' NU.nl'' (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (reporting that film caused much controversy in Arab media)

Cast

(Mostafa) *

(Salwa) * Sherif Mounir (Ezzat Abdelhamid/Daniel Navon) * Entessar (Rachel) * Salim Kassar (Youshir, Director of Assassinations for

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

) * Sabry Abdel Monem (Bodour, Director of Egyptian Intelligence) * Kinda Alloush (Darren) * Iman (Sarah, Daniel’s mother) * Yasser Ali Maher (

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

officer) * Gerges Jabara (Abu Ziyad) * Adham Morshed (Abed) * Mohamed Tharwat (guest of honor)

Plot

Salwa (played by

) is an Egyptian woman who discovers that her husband (played by Sherif Mounir) is a

agent and abducts her with her two young children to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Mostafa (

), a

officer is assigned to rescue Salwa and her children and bring them back to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Production

Among many vicissitudes with the filming was an interruption of more than three months while the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

and other government entities reviewed the script, given the movie’s centering on the intelligence services and foreign relations with

and other nations. Star

was injured filming an action scene when he fell two floors due to the snap of a

guy wire A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and tents. A thin ...

. He was hospitalized and underwent

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

on his foot, followed by

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, delaying the film’s completion by another two months. Filming took eight weeks and was completed both outside Egypt (in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, the latter with the blessing of the

government of Syria Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the President of Syria, president is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Syria, prime minister is the head of government. Execut ...

) and domestically (in

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

and at

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

’s Studio Misr and Studio Ahmos.

References

External links

*
El Cinema page
Egyptian political films 2009 films 2000s Arabic-language films Anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism in Egypt Films about the Arab–Israeli conflict Egyptian Spy films {{Egypt-film-stub

Cast

Plot

Production

See also

References

External links