Life After Siham
Fall Grants 2024 - Development Stage
Namir Abdel Messeeh / Feature Documentary / Egypt, France, Qatar / 85 min / Original Language: Arabic, French / Interests: Documentary
Synopsis
“‘Life After Siham’ tells the story of Namir, a 40-year-old filmmaker, and his journey through grief. This first-person documentary spans over a decade, charting Namir’s evolution as a grieving artist through his various cinematic attempts. It captures his struggle to move from an inability to accept his mother’s death to a determined effort to preserve her memory through a film involving his father, family, and their complex history. This process unearths deep-seated traumas from Namir’s childhood, shaped by separation and exile.
The film explores the power of cinema, offering Namir the illusion of controlling time and reviving the ghosts of loved ones, fearing they might vanish without a trace. As he faces the imminent loss of his father, the last surviving link to his family legacy, Namir discovers that cinema is more than a tool for memory—it is a medium to express love and to honour the transient beauty of life.”
Credits
- Director
- Namir Abdel Messeeh
- Screenwriter
- Messeeh, Sonia Moyersoen
- Producer
- Camille Laemle
- Production Company
- Oweda Films (Egypt), Les Films d'Ici (France)
About the Director
Namir Abdel Messeeh was born in 1974. After spending his early childhood in Egypt, he moved to France, where he continues to live. He studied film directing at La Fémis (French National Film School) and directed two short fiction films before deciding to explore more personal questions through his documentary, ‘You, Waguih’. The film examines his relationship with his father, a former political prisoner under Nasser in Egypt. His first feature, ‘The Virgin, the Copts and Me’, which addresses his relationship with his motherland, Egypt, and his Coptic family in an original way, was selected for numerous festivals worldwide, including Cannes, Berlin, and Doha.