Excuse My French

Lamoakhza

A Christian boy in Egypt is forced to swap his elite education for state school, where he is believed to be a Muslim.


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  • Director Amr Salama
  • Producers Mohamed Hefzy, Hani Ossama
  • Screenwriter Amr Salama
  • With Kinda Alloush, Hani Adel, Ahmed Dash
  • Egypt 2014
  • 100 mins
  • Production company Film Clinic

Egyptian director Amr Salama (Asmaa, On a Day Like Today) makes a winning foray into comic territory with a delightful coming-of-age tale about a young Egyptian Copt Hany. After the sudden death of his father, Hany and his mother are forced to swap their privileged lives for a more modest existence. That includes Hany attending a rough state school. When he is innocently assumed to be a Muslim, Hany goes along with the deception for fear of being bullied by his classmates, already mistrustful of his formerly rich background. It took Salama more than five years to get his film made, such is the sensitivity of Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt. But he eschews didacticism and polemics to fashion a charming look at the growing up in Egypt. The film was a surprise hit at the Egyptian box office earlier this year, a testament to its crowd-pleasing potential.

Ali Jaafar