'Asham' a man called hope, window on Egyptian social life

Egyptian film "Asham" by young filmmaker Maggie M. Morgan, projected Tuesday in "Maghreb" cinema theater as part of 7th Arab Film Festival of Oran (FOFA), highlights social situations overshadowed by the promiscuity of big cities like Cairo. This film, which opened the competition of films, addresses social issues such as poverty, injustice, failures, solidarity and hope in a dramatic form and with a human dimension. Produced in 2012, the 87 minute film talks about values in a context of conflict, like the triumph of love over hatred and the resistance of the poor to the dictates of the rich. The messages conveyed by the director through this film are the thirst for hope, escaping the harsh living conditions. The title "Asham" which means Hope is the name of one of the film’s key characters that makes any job regardless of others judgments, after being forced to wear clothes and masks to distribute flyers to market products and services. This young man story intersects with six parallel and complex narratives told in the film on a background of disorder prevailing in Cairo.