What Is to Be Done?
Que faire?
FRANCE / 2010 / Arabic / Color / Blu-ray (SD) / 152 min
Director, Photography, Script: Emmanuelle Demoris
Editing: Emmanuelle Demoris, Céline Ducreux
Sound: Emmanuel Croset, Jean-Luc Audy
Producer: Jean Gruault
Production Company: Les films de la Villa
Mafrouza is a slum town in Alexandria, Egypt. The camera enters its narrow maze-like alleyways, inviting the viewer to experience the gentle flow of time there. An elderly man troubled by flooding in his home; young people who sing and dance in the streets at night; and the proprietor of a grocery who preaches at a mosque. We silently lend an ear to their views on life, passion, and relationships with the world outside, often with a cup of tea or cigarette in one hand. All evoke the joy of living. This film was screened at YIDFF 2011.
Emmanuelle Demoris
Born 1965 in London. In 1998, Emmanuelle Demoris directed a documentary film, Mémoires de pierre, about the past and the present of a stone quarry near Paris. In 1999 she spent a year traveling in the Mediterranean area to gather materials for a film. This journey led her to the Mafrouza film project in 2001. What Is to Be Done? is the third part of a five-part work.