In a busy, noisy, high-traffic street in Alexandria, Egypt, a seemingly vacant corner lot surrounded by chain link fencing is the training site of Egypt’s most elite champions – female weightlifters. Zebiba (Arabic for ‘raisin’) has been training at the site since the age of nine for five years, following in the footsteps of Egypt’s most famous female athletes of all time: Abeer Abdel Rahman and Nahla Ramadan.

Nahla’s father, Captain Ramadan, has bred champions for over two decades. Now it is Zebiba’s turn! Would Zebiba put aside her youthful instincts, and direct her focus to be the weightlifting champion the Captain is sure she is?

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Mayye Zayed via videocall.  

Mayye Zayed is an Egyptian filmmaker and the founder of Cléo Media for Production and Impact Distribution in Alexandria.
Following her studies in Egypt and America, she began her career as a filmmaker, producer and editor in 2013 with a collaborative feature The Mice Room. In 2016, she obtained the award-winning short A Stroll Down Sunflower Lane.
Between 2013 and 2019, Mayye co-founded and worked in Rufy's Films.

Egypt | 2020 | 1h24 mins

Arabic with English subtitles

Partners: Heinrich Böll Stiftung Middle East