WALAD MIN AL JANNA

2022 / 126 min / color

Adam, a small fishing village boy, arrives in Cairo on a high-profile scholarship. He is intelligent and determined to break out of his environment for good, and studying at a prestigious university is the best opportunity to do so. When he witnesses the mysterious murder of a colleague, he becomes embroiled in a deadly intrigue. Forced to cooperate, he agrees to infiltrate the Muslim Brotherhood – one of Islam’s most powerful organisations that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets. In order to survive, Adam will very quickly need to master the rules of play of an extremely brutal world, embarking on a path from which there is no return. Awarded the Palme d’Or for Best Screenplay, Tarik Saleh’s film was one of the most widely discussed titles of the recent Cannes Film Festival. This daring political thriller closely examines the dangerous relationship between religion and power and shows how easily young minds can be manipulated. Although Boy from Heaven is set in Egypt, Saleh was forced to shoot it entirely in Turkey for political reasons.

• Cannes IFF – Best Screenplay