Eden, a 30-year-old Belgian woman, works in a cultural center a few thousand kilometers away from her home, in the bustling capital of Cairo. She makes a life-changing encounter with a young woman named Shams. One day, Shams brutally disappears. With the support and friendship of two valiant young Egyptians, Eden starts a fight against her own fears, denials and bias to find Shams.
Shams
A short film by Pauline Beugnies
Technical sheet
Awards and Selections
Shams was born out of a deep desire to depict Cairo, as I see it, as I feel it, in a splendid chaos. To tell the story of a meeting between two “worlds”, in a great gap between the transgressive microcosms of the party and the conservative society.
Pauline Beugnies
Produced by RAYUELA PRODUCTIONS in coproduction with HAUTEVILLE PRODUCTIONS and THOWRA with the support of CENTRE DU CINÉMA ET DE L’AUDIOVISUEL DE LA FÉDÉRATION WALLONIE-BRUXELLES and of LOTERIE NATIONALE, with the participation of FRANCE 3 – distributed by L’AGENCE BELGE DU COURT MÉTRAGE
Claire Beugnies
in the role of Eden
Amina El-Banna
in the role of Sara
Zainab Magdy
in the role of Nourhan
Awards & Selections
Brussels Short Film Festival – BSFF 2020 (BE)
Festival international du film francophone de Namur – FIFF 2020 (BE)
Pink Screens -Brussels Queer Film Festival 2020 (BE)
Festival du cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles 2020 (BE)
Festival du film court en plein air de Grenoble 2021 (FR)
Le court en dit long 2021 (FR)
Thess International Short Film festival 2021 (GR)
Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes y Animacion de Barcelona – MECAL 2021 (SP)
Festival Un Pays Un Film de Issoire 2021(FR)
Festival international du film lesbien et féministe de Paris – CINEFFABLE 2021 (FR)
BFI Flare – London 2022 (UK)
Festival Mix – Milan 2022 (IT)
Festival international du film LGBTI – Sao Paulo 2022 (BR)
Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival – Hartford 2022 (US)
Rio LGBTQIA+ – Rio 2022 (BR)
D’un bord à l’autre Festival – LGBT film festival – Orléans 2022 (FR)
Zefestival, LGBTQIA+ film festival – Côte d’Azur 2022 (FR)
Cambria Film Festival 2023 – Cambria, California (USA)
Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 – Sydney, Australia (AU)
Award of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, BSFF 2020
Award RTBF-La Trois, BSFF 2020
Cinematic Achievement Award TiSFF 2021– Thessaloniki’s International Short Film Festival
Best Long Form Short Award 2023 – Cambria Film Festival
TECHNICAL SHEET
Script and direction: Pauline Beugnies
Producer: Laurence Buelens
Co-Producer: Karina Si Ahmed
Production management: Mahmoud Eissa, Ruth Vandewalle
Principal performers:
Claire Beugnies
Zainab Magdy
Amina El-Banna
Director of photography: Tristan Galand
Artistic director: Salma Samy
Sound engineer: Edith Herregods
Editing: Léo Parmentier
Sound Editing: Lise Bouchez
Mix: Jeff Levillain
Original music: Lionel Vancauwenberge
Image ratio: 2.39 (scope)
Duration: 24 min.
Languages spoken in the film: arabic, french, english
Subtitled versions: french, english, bil. FR/NL
Support(s): Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Loterie Nationale
Diffusion and distribution: L’Agence Belge du Court Métrage
ISAN: 0000-0005-9DF5-0000-P-0000-0000-0
