A day before the wedding of “Warda”, played by the Egyptian artist Yasmine Raees, the young bride from the popular neighborhood, is surprised that her wedding dress has been burned and cannot be repaired, so she begins her journey with her cousin, Asmaa Galal, to search for a new dress through the streets of Cairo, amidst lights that hide much of the suffering of the marginalized.
This scene was the introduction to an exciting journey full of surprises within the events of the film “The White Dress”, whose young director, Jilan Auf, says that her journey with it took 4 years, during which she wrote 16 versions of the film’s script, which is her first feature film. In her interview with us, she indicated that she considers herself lucky to have found a producer like Mohamed Hefzy who was enthusiastic about producing the film, and she is also grateful for the entry of the star of her film, the artist Yasmine Raees, as a co-producer in the film, noting that her period of work as an assistant director for major directors such as Daoud Abdel Sayed benefited her greatly. The film’s opening night on Wednesday evening was held at the El Gouna Film Festival, where it participates in the feature film competition, with the crew and a large number of artists in attendance.
After an arduous search, Warda finally finds a dress given to her by a woman who rents movie costumes for free. The bride embraces the dress and dances happily in the street with her cousin and their friend, but they face harassment and assault from some young men. She loses her dress for the second time, and feels extremely frustrated with her husband, whom she was not married to, “Ahmed Khaled Saleh,” who confesses to her that he rushed into the decision to marry and that he is not qualified for it. Warda loses her enthusiasm for everything, and her journey reflects many crises in society.
When she returns to her family’s home, she finds a surprise waiting for her, and joy reigns in her life again. Her neighbors in the popular neighborhood share her joy. Yasmine Raees appears as a simple bride, covering her hair and her face free of makeup in many scenes.
Actress Mimi Gamal appears in one touching scene inside the police station where she meets “Warda” and tells her that she signed “promissory notes” to prepare her daughter and that she is at risk of imprisonment. “Warda” sympathizes with her, so she takes off a gold bracelet from her hand and puts it on the old woman’s hand.
Director Jilan Auf, who is also the film’s writer, confirmed that preparing for the film took 4 years, starting with the writing stage and then the journey to search for funding, which she considered difficult for any director leading her first film. Then came the events of “Covid 19” to stop the film, while she was continuing to work on it. In the last year, she went through filming and editing, noting that filming took 24 non-consecutive days, but she considers herself lucky: “I am lucky because the producer, Mohamed Hefzy, was enthusiastic about the idea of the film. I am very grateful to the artist Yasmine Raees (the film’s heroine) who also participated in its production, and I am happy to participate with the actors Asmaa Galal and Ahmed Khaled Saleh who gave me their trust and encouraged me to direct this work. Everyone who watched the film loved it to the same extent, and I hope that this will also be crowned with the audience’s love for it. ”
Regarding her choice to present the idea of the journey that the heroine takes in search of the white dress, Jilan says: “The message of the film lies in this journey and that helping each other is what makes us overcome our crises.”
Jilan Auf studied international law at the American University and also studied cinema and theater there, but she confirms that she gained her basic education from her work as an assistant director with great directors, most notably Daoud Abdel Sayed, who has a great influence on her according to her, as she participated in his film “Love Letters” which was not filmed, and his latest film “Extraordinary Abilities”. She continues: “I worked with directors whose work I love, including Amr Salama, Tamer Mohsen, Ahmed Alaa, and Ahmed Abdullah, who is participating with me in the film (The White Dress), as a creative producer. I always consulted him on scenes and situations, even in choosing the actors. He also has great production experience and was supportive of me.”
Gilan worked as an executive director, and she also had production experiences, stressing that they were multiple and that they greatly benefited her in completing her first experience, and that she learned during them that the simpler the film is, the closer it is to the viewer’s heart.
Before this film, Awf directed two short narrative films, the first of which was “My Festival”, which was shown in the first session of the “El Gouna Film Festival”, and the film “When It Came 10”, which participated in several festivals that led her to her first feature film.
The director notes her happiness with the selection of the film “The White Dress” among the official selections for the “Red Sea Film Festival” in its next session, stressing that it will be the first screening outside Egypt.
Jilan points out that she has gained flexibility in searching for alternatives because no director, male or female, can say that they have achieved everything they wished for, but it is important not to give up on important things and to have flexibility in alternatives and to find solutions for every situation during filming. In editing, there are things that happen by chance and when they are combined, some complex situations are solved. During the press conference that was organized (Thursday), artist Yasmine Raees spoke about her enthusiasm for entering the production experience and said: “After a period of working in art, I discovered that my presence as an actress does not depend only on talent. There is a commercial aspect and there are roles that I may be enthusiastic about as an actress, but the film producer is not enthusiastic about. I found the solution in being part of the film.” Producer Mohamed Hefzy stated that Yasmine Raees will launch a production company soon.
While artist Asmaa Galal stated that the director was interested in good preparations for the film, and she hired a woman from a popular area to speak in front of us, and we learned details from her that we did not know.
Published Oct 31, 2024.
