Nadine Labaki Goes ‘Back to Alexandria’ as Director Tamer Ruggli Celebrates ‘Exuberant, Dominant and Endearing’ Egyptian Women
28.09.2023 - 15:03
/ variety.com
Marta Balaga Nadine Labaki heads “Back to Alexandria” in Tamer Ruggli’s debut feature that allowed him to celebrate Egyptian women. “I am very close to my mother, who is Egyptian. I don’t know if you know many Egyptian women, but they are exuberant, dominant and endearing.” In a story based on his mother’s experiences, Sue (Labaki) returns home after 20 years.
Her eccentric mom, Fairouz (Fanny Ardant), is dying. She gets into a pink Cadillac and starts driving to Alexandria, talking to Fairouz every step of the way. Even though it’s just in her head.
“This relationship between a mother and a daughter… There is so much depth to it and so much conflict, or at least that was the case in my family,” says Ruggli. “In the end, this film is about loss and how we can deal with it. When we lose a parent, there are so many things left unsaid.
These discussions might not be real, sure, but they allow her to get everything off her chest. She is able to affront her loss in a serene way and move on.” A Studio Orange title, the film is produced by Tipi’Mages Productions SA, Les Films de la Capitaine, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, Sunnyland Film and Doha Film Institute. Eva Monti, Menha El Batraoui and Enaam Salousa also star.
Ruggli, a Swiss director with Egyptian roots, wanted Labaki’s Sue to be lost in between different cultures as well. “There is this saying that your childhood influences you as much as your country. You are attached to who you used to be and it can forge who you will become.
I feel very Egyptian at heart, but when I am there, I am a foreigner. I wanted to show how it feels to go back to a place where you don’t really belong anymore.” But such returns can also be joyful, he says. “At first, she tries to distance
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