The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni
The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni is a rapturous elegy to a rich and versatile era of film production in Egypt which has lapsed today, through the work of one of its most revered actress and star: Soad Hosni, who from the early 1960 into the 90s, embodied the modern Arab woman in her complexity and paradoxes.
Rania Stephan, born in Beirut, Lebanon, graduated in Cinema Studies from Latrobe University, Australia and Paris VIII University, France. She has directed numerous short and medium length videos and creative documentaries, which are notable for their play with genres, and the long-running investigation of the themes of memory, identity, archeology of the image and the figure of the detective. Anchored in the turbulent reality of her country, her documentaries give a personal perspective to political events. She gives raw images a poetic edge, cutting chance encounters with humor. Her first feature film, The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011), won numerous prizes: Artist’s Prize: Sharjah Biennale 10; Renaud Victor Prize, FID Marseille International Cinema Festival; Best Filmmaker Award, Doha Tribeca Film Festival. Her second feature In Fields of Words: Conversations with Samar Yazbek (2022) won Best Film Prize at the Villa Medicis Film Festival in 2022 and is still on tour.
Film translated by: Ester Macedo
Lebanon, 2011, 70’
Director: Rania Stephan
