ALFILM Festival: Spring Came On Laughing

In the organizer's words:

As spring comes to Cairo, the mood begins to change: seemingly innocuous social gatherings walk a tightrope between conflict and communion. Tensions mount under a surface of calm until they erupt in accusations, arguments, and anger, akin to blossoming flowers.
Noha Adel's directorial debut makes adept use of non-professional actors, overlapping dialog and scenes that play out in real time to an uproarious effect. The result is a hilarious and damning portrait of everyday characters struggling to reconcile between keeping secrets with keeping up appearances.
Spring Came On Laughing was the big winner of the 2024 Cairo International Film Festival, where it managed to take home four awards, among them the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize as well as for best director. (MB)