Egyptian film ‘Trapped’ to premiere at Mostra de Valencia

Manal Khaled’s feature debut Trapped will compete in the Informative section of the 36th edition of Mostra de Valencia. The event is scheduled to take place from October 15-24.

La Mostra de València-Cinema del Mediterrani is an international film festival promoted by Valencia City Council (Ajuntament de València) in Spain. It aims to show and promote cinema from the Mediterranean basin as a geographical and cultural point of reference.

Trapped revolves around a number of women from different walks of life who are all under one siege. As the story unfolds, their own personal stories reflect on a far bigger siege that depicts the constraints imposed on them by the male dominance in their lives be it a father, a husband, or the society and the government. The women share the same dream of change, of breaking free from the social norm, however, their personal differences affect their level of awareness, openness, how they express themselves and how they rebel. It tells the story of women who seek to be understood rather than to be pitied and that without limiting women to an issue of a body that is perceived as both the problem and the solution.

Directed and produced by Manal Khaled who co-scripted it with Rasha Azab, Trapped stars Caroline Khalil, Reem Higab, Osama Abo Al Ata, Ne’ma Mohsen, Mona Mokhtar, Tharaa Goubail, Rajwa Hamed, Zeina Mansour‎, Habiba Effat and Fadel El Garhy. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution across the Arab world.

Recently, Trapped was screened at the Karama Human Rights Film Festival, Beirut, and the opening of Amman International Film Festival. It world premiered in the Global section of the South By Southwest Festival, USA, to become the only Arab film screened at the American festival and the first Egyptian one in ten years. Prior to that, it was screened for 13 minutes at El Gouna Film Festival as part of efforts to raise funds for the film.

Manal Khaled is an Egyptian filmmaker who studied Philosophy at Alexandria University. She worked in Misr International Films as an assistant director and has vast experience working with award-winning directors, such as Saad Hendawi, Kamla Abo Zekri, Hani Khalifa and Mohamed Ali. Also, she attended many masterclasses and workshops on filmmaking, screenwriting and film critique. Most recently, Manal finished shooting her long documentary An Hour or So.