''Welad El-Am'' (; ), known internationally as ''Escaping Tel Aviv'', is a 2009

Egyptian film The Egyptian film industry is today based mainly in Cairo, which is sometimes referred to as Hollywood on the Nile, Hollywood of the Middle East or Hollywood of the East, despite having its beginnings in the city of Alexandria in the early 20t ...

directed by

Sherif Arafa Sherif Arafa () (born on December 25, 1960) is an Egyptian director, writer and producer. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in 1982. Sharif Arafa participated in the making of many of the movies in the history of Egyptian cinema, ...

and starring

Karim Abdel Aziz Karim Abdel Aziz () (born August 17, 1975) is an Egyptian actor and director. He is the son of director Mohammad Abdul Aziz and nephew of film director Omar Abdel Aziz. He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in his father's film (B ...

Mona Zaki Mona Ali Mohamed Zaki (; born 18 November 1976) is an Egyptian actress and producer. Early life and education Mona Ali Mohamed Zaki was born in Cairo to her parents Ali Mohamed and Tahini Zaki on 18 November 1976. Her father was a university ...

and

Sherif Mounir Sherif Mounir (sometimes credited as Sherif Moneer), (), born May 14, 1959, in El Mansoura (المنصورة) in Dakahlia Governorate (محافظة الدقهلية) as Sherif Ahmed Mounir (), is an Egyptian movie and stage actor An acto ...

.(18 March 2010)
Joden in de schurkenrol in drakerig actiethriller
''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...

'' (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (critical review saying the movie glorifies Arabs and paints Israeli Jews as villains, just as bad as Hollywood films painting Arabs as villains)(16 March 2010)
Deze film doorbreekt taboe in Arabische wereld
'' NU.nl'' (in Dutch), Retrieved December 15, 2010 (reporting that film caused much controversy in Arab media)

Cast

(Mostafa) *

(Salwa) *

(Ezzat Abdelhamid/Daniel Navon) * Entessar (Rachel) * Salim Kallas (Youshir, Director of Assassinations for

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

) * Sabry Abdel Monem (Bodour, Director of Egyptian Intelligence) *

Kinda Alloush Kinda Mazen Alloush (; born on 27 March 1982 in Hama) is a Syrian actress known for her roles in Syrian and Egyptian drama and cinema. Early life and career Alloush was born in Hama, Syria to a father who was a physician and mother who was ...

(Darren) *

Iman Iman, Imann, Imaan, Eman, Eiman, Imane, Emaan, or Imman may refer to: Places * Iman, Iran, a village in Kalashi District, Kermanshah Province * The Iman River, the former name of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, a tributary of the Ussuri River in ...

(Sarah, Daniel’s mother) *

Yasser Ali Maher Yasser (also spelled Yaser, Yasir, or Yassir; , ''Yāsir'') is an Arabic male name meaning “to be of ease” or “of wealth”. Notable people with this given name *Yasir Abdullah (born 2000), American gridiron football player *Yasir ibn Amir ...

(

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

officer) * Gerges Jabara (Abu Ziyad) * Adham Morshed (Abed)

Plot

Salwa (played by

) is an Egyptian woman who discovers that her husband (played by

) is a

agent and abducts her with her two young children to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Mostafa (

), a

officer is assigned to rescue Salwa and her children and bring them back to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Production

Among many vicissitudes with the filming was an interruption of more than three months while the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

and other government entities reviewed the script, given the movie’s centering on the intelligence services and foreign relations with

and other nations. Star

was injured filming an action scene when he fell two floors due to the snap of a

guy wire A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, down guy, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a freestanding structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and ten ...

. He was hospitalized and underwent

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

on his foot, followed by

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, delaying the film’s completion by another two months. Filming took eight weeks and was completed both outside Egypt (in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the

Syrian Coastal Mountain Range The Coastal Mountain Range (, ''Silsilat al-Jibāl as-Sāḥilīyah'') also called Jabal al-Ansariya, Jabal an-Nusayria or Jabal al-`Alawīyin (Ansari, Nusayri or Alawi Mountains) is a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north–south, ...

, the latter with the blessing of the

government of Syria The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succe ...

) and domestically (in

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

and at

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

’s

Studio Misr Studio Misr (Eng: "Egypt Studio"), also known as Studios Misr, is a film studio established in Giza, Egypt, in 1935 by the economist Talaat Harb. Owned and staffed by Egyptians, it is known as "The Studio of Egypt". For three decades, it was the ...

and Studio Ahmos.

References

External links

*
El Cinema page
Egyptian political films 2009 films 2000s Arabic-language films Anti-Zionism in Egypt Films about the Arab–Israeli conflict Egyptian spy films 2000s Egyptian films {{Egypt-film-stub

Cast

Plot

Production

See also

References

External links