Ermek Shinarbaev
The World Cinema Foundation at Cannes Classics
In 2007, at the 60th Festival de Cannes, Martin Scorsese inaugurated the World Cinema Foundation to restore and distribute heritage films from around the world. This year, five of these films will be screened at Cannes Classics. Today, El Fallah al Fasih by Shadi Abdel Salem and Mest by Erlek Shinarbaev will be screened at 17:00 in the Salle du Soixantième.
For the second year in a row, the World Cinema Foundation decided to present a film by Egyptian director Shadi Abdel Salem. his short film El Fallah al Fasih* (The Eloquent Peasant) (1970) is inspired by a story from ancient Egypt about Khoun-Inpou, a poor peasant who is the victim of a plot hatched by one of the noble King Rensi’s overseers, who is in charge of land. Khoun-Inpou thinks he is already condemned to die but he underestimated his powers of persuasion and the beauty and virtuosity of his speech to King Rensi, who is so impressed that he takes up the cause of this poor peasant.
Mest (The Reed Flute) (1989), by the Kazakh Ermek Shinarbaev tells the story of a father who is obsessed with the idea of vengeance. When his daughter’s is killed for no apparent reason by her teacher, he swears he will kill the murderer. He remarries, another child is born, but his bitterness does not abate. Still in mourning, the father fears he will never find eternal rest in the afterlife. He trains his son in harsh combat so that he will be ready when the hour of vengeance comes.
TK
* version restored by the Bologna Cinémathèque
