Corruption in Religion – Official US Trailer for ‘Cairo Conspiracy’ Film
by Alex Billington
January 17, 2023
Source: YouTube
“Make sure he is elected.” Samuel Goldwyn Films has revealed the new US trailer for Cairo Conspiracy, the film formerly known as Boy From Heaven, set entirely in Egypt even though it’s actually a Swedish production. This premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award, and has since played at numerous other festivals including Zurich, Hamburg, London, Busan, Vancouver, Ghent, Mill Valley. The story follows Adam, the son of a fisherman, who is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the university’s highest ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam soon becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Eqypt’s religious and political elite. The film stars Tawfeek Barhom as Adam, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi, Moe Ayoub, Sherwan Haji, and Ahmed Lassaoui. I saw this in Cannes and gave it a positive review, mostly because it’s so frighteningly honest about corruption and that is worthwhile to show. I still recommend it.
Here’s the official US trailer (+ new poster) for Tarik Saleh’s Cairo Conspiracy, from SGF’s YouTube:
You can rewatch the first international trailer for Saleh’s Boy From Heaven right here, for more footage.
Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), the talented son of a fisherman, accepts an offer to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. Shortly after his arrival, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar suddenly dies and a power struggle to replace him ensues. Adam gets caught up in the corruption and politics. Boy From Heaven, originally known as Walad Min Al Janna or ولد من الجنة in Arabic, is both written and directed by award-winning Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh, director of the films Metropia, Tommy, The Nile Hilton Incident, and this year’s The Contractor previously. Produced by Fredrik Zander and Kristina Åberg, co-produced by Misha Jaari, Mark Lwoff, and Alexandre Mallet-Guy. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year playing in the Main Competition, where it won the Best Screenplay award. It already opened in France last year, and is also set to open in the UK this March. Goldwyn Films will debut Saleh’s Cairo Conspiracy in select US theaters starting January 27th, 2023. It’s worth a watch.
