The Cinémas du Sud festival in the French city of Lyon is a chance for European movie-goers to discover cinematic gems from North Africa and the Middle East.
Among the films screened for this 15th edition was ‘El Ott’ by Egyptian director Ibrahim El-Batout.
It stars Egyptian actor Amr Waked as a gangster who challenges a notorious mobster, a kidnapper of street children for organ trafficking. Egyptian acting legend Farouk Al-Fishawy plays the baddie, a silent character who represents evil throughout the movie.
Waked, who also produced the film, says organ trafficking in Cairo is an alarming issue: “A while back, I read about these dismembered bodies of children being discovered in tips. I was very shocked to find out that this really does happen,” he told euronews.
The story is inspired by the ancient Egyptian legend of Osiris, murdered by his jealous brother and dismembered into fourteen pieces: “The Egyptian myth of Osiris was the first story about a dreadful dismembering,
