Cairo Time
Encyclopedia
Cairo Time is a 2009 film by Canadian
director Ruba Nadda
. It is a romantic
drama
about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off-guard.
This movie won the "Best Canadian Feature Film" at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009
.
) is a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a vacation with her long-time husband (Tom McCamus
), a UN official working in Gaza. Delayed, her husband asks his friend—a handsome Egyptian named Tareq (Alexander Siddig
)—to watch over Juliette. Juliette finds herself falling in love not only with the city but with Tareq.
Atom Egoyan
gave the screenplay for Cairo Time to Christine Vachon
and Charles Pugliese at Killer Films in New York in 2005. Vachon saw there was a lot of potential in the script and decided to meet Nadda with Pugliese. After meeting Nadda they wanted to get involved in the project and thereby became executive producers.
Because Canada did not have co-production treaties with Egypt they needed to find a way to shoot in Egypt anyhow. Iron was introduced to David Collins of Samson Films in Ireland by Ruba Nadda. Collins met Nadda at a film festival in Mannheim and in Rotterdam and was familiar with her work. Samson decided to join the project, making it a Canada-Ireland co-production, and so were allowed to shoot in Egypt.
certified the movie "fresh" with 81% as of August 2010.
The film was received with great reviews. The Wall Street Journal said "Clarkson makes taking 'Cairo Time' well worth it", while CTV News gave the movie a positive review stating that the movie as "A masterful look at repressed romance" giving it 3 stars out of 4
Picktainment.com said "Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time is a passive, delicate film with a mature respect for its surroundings and a profound understanding of neglect, especially in its subtle form."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Cairo Time "a fragile romance" and said about Nadda, "Just when you think you know what's coming, the canny writer-director Ruba Nadda (Sabah) makes sure you won't. Nadda lets the sensuous tempos of Cairo life seep into Juliette's system, and ours. It's a haunting and hypnotic film. And Clarkson's sublimely nuanced performance is in every way transporting." At the end of 2010, Cairo Time was named "Best-reviewed romance of the year (2010)" by Rotten Tomatoes.
. The movie was bought by IFC during Toronto International Film Festival 2009 and released in the U.S. in New York and Los Angeles on August 6, 2010 with a wide release on Labor Day
weekend of 2010 by IFC.
Cairo Time grossed $66,245 in the opening weekend, ranking at #38. The film sold out all shows in the weekend in New York and Los Angeles, with a theater revenue of $12,450, the best per-theater-average of any film in release.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
director Ruba Nadda
Ruba Nadda
Ruba Nadda is an Arab Canadian film director. She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 6 December 1972 to a Syrian father and a Palestinian mother. She made several award-winning short films, including Lost Woman Story, Interstate Love Story, So Far Gone and Damascus Nights before writing and...
. It is a romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off-guard.
This movie won the "Best Canadian Feature Film" at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009
2009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
.
Plot
Juliette (Patricia ClarksonPatricia Clarkson
Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
) is a Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a vacation with her long-time husband (Tom McCamus
Tom McCamus
Tom McCamus is an award-winning Canadian film and theatre actor who is most widely known for his work on the science-fiction television show Mutant X....
), a UN official working in Gaza. Delayed, her husband asks his friend—a handsome Egyptian named Tareq (Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi is a Sudanese-born English actor, also known as Siddig El Fadil and his stage name Alexander Siddig. He is known for playing Dr...
)—to watch over Juliette. Juliette finds herself falling in love not only with the city but with Tareq.
Production
When Ruba Nadda finished writing the script for Cairo Time she showed it to producer Daniel Iron of Foundry Films. Daniel, remembering Ruba's previous feature Sabah, loved the script and decided to work with her.Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
gave the screenplay for Cairo Time to Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector and daughter of noted photographer John Vachon....
and Charles Pugliese at Killer Films in New York in 2005. Vachon saw there was a lot of potential in the script and decided to meet Nadda with Pugliese. After meeting Nadda they wanted to get involved in the project and thereby became executive producers.
Because Canada did not have co-production treaties with Egypt they needed to find a way to shoot in Egypt anyhow. Iron was introduced to David Collins of Samson Films in Ireland by Ruba Nadda. Collins met Nadda at a film festival in Mannheim and in Rotterdam and was familiar with her work. Samson decided to join the project, making it a Canada-Ireland co-production, and so were allowed to shoot in Egypt.
Cast
- Patricia ClarksonPatricia ClarksonPatricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
... Juliette Grant - Alexander SiddigAlexander SiddigSiddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi is a Sudanese-born English actor, also known as Siddig El Fadil and his stage name Alexander Siddig. He is known for playing Dr...
... Tareq Khalifa - Elena AnayaElena AnayaElena Anaya is a Spanish actress whose career dates back to 1995.Anaya is the youngest of 5 children. She first received international attention in 2001 for her role in the sexually explicit drama Lucía y el sexo and also appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Hable con ella .Her best-known Hollywood film...
... Kathryn - Tom McCamusTom McCamusTom McCamus is an award-winning Canadian film and theatre actor who is most widely known for his work on the science-fiction television show Mutant X....
... Mark - Amina Annabi ... Yasmeen
- Andrew Cullen ... Jim
- Mona Hala ... Jameelah
- Fadia Nadda ... Hanan
Reception
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
certified the movie "fresh" with 81% as of August 2010.
The film was received with great reviews. The Wall Street Journal said "Clarkson makes taking 'Cairo Time' well worth it", while CTV News gave the movie a positive review stating that the movie as "A masterful look at repressed romance" giving it 3 stars out of 4
Picktainment.com said "Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time is a passive, delicate film with a mature respect for its surroundings and a profound understanding of neglect, especially in its subtle form."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Cairo Time "a fragile romance" and said about Nadda, "Just when you think you know what's coming, the canny writer-director Ruba Nadda (Sabah) makes sure you won't. Nadda lets the sensuous tempos of Cairo life seep into Juliette's system, and ours. It's a haunting and hypnotic film. And Clarkson's sublimely nuanced performance is in every way transporting." At the end of 2010, Cairo Time was named "Best-reviewed romance of the year (2010)" by Rotten Tomatoes.
Release
The movie was released in Canadian theaters on 9 October 2009. Cairo Time won the "Best Canadian Feature Film" at the Toronto International Film Festival 20092009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
. The movie was bought by IFC during Toronto International Film Festival 2009 and released in the U.S. in New York and Los Angeles on August 6, 2010 with a wide release on Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend of 2010 by IFC.
Cairo Time grossed $66,245 in the opening weekend, ranking at #38. The film sold out all shows in the weekend in New York and Los Angeles, with a theater revenue of $12,450, the best per-theater-average of any film in release.