BFI London Film Festival will screen a restored version of Egyptian filmmaker Tawfik Saleh’s 1972 classic The Dupes, according to an announcement made of its website.
The festival is set to run from October fourth to the 15th, as the film will be in the festival’s Treasures – Revived and Restored from the World’s Archives section.
The movie is an adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani’s novella Men in the Sun. Kanafani was one of the most prominent Palestinian writers and activists and his novella is considered a significant milestone in Arab cinema.
The movie tells the story of Palestinian refugees through a dangerous journey from Syria to Kuwait in the back of a tank truck. They embark on their trip in pursuit of employment and a fresh start in the Gulf.
According to the festival’s website the film is “an uncompromising film that was banned for decades, yet still has the power to unsettle audiences in this striking restoration.”
It is worth mentioning that in 1972, The Dupes movie won the Tanit d’Or at the 1972 Carthage Film Festival.
The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna worked on restoring the film in collaboration with the National Film Organisation and Tewfik Saleh’s family. While, Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation funded the restoration efforts.
Also according to the festival’s website it will screen another Egyptian movie in the short film category, which is Ozr El Wezzah, directed by Mahdy Abo Bahat and Abdo Zin Eldin.
