02/12/2016 - The Swedish director’s third feature is the first Swedish contender for the top prize in nine years at the US film festival

Swedish director Tarik Saleh’s third feature, The Nile Hilton Incident [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile], has been selected for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival (read news) – the first Swedish contender in nine years for the top prize in what is considered one of the world’s most prestigious showcases, which takes place in Park City, Utah, from 19-29 January 2017.

“When you make a film, you dream that someone out there will understand what you are trying to say. That Sundance chose my movie – it feels totally unreal,” was the immediate reaction from Saleh, who runs Stockholm’s Atmo outfit with Swedish producer Kristina Åberg; they haveworked together onThe Nile Hilton Incident, Tommy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2014) and Metropia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2009).

The titular incident in question takes place in 2011, when a murder case lands on Police Commissioner Noredin’s table; three years before, famous Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim had been stabbed to death. An Egyptian property tycoon was arrested for the murder, but Noredin realised that nobody really wanted an investigation, because there were clear links to people close to the president's inner circle.

The killing and the subsequent trial inspired Saleh to write the script, which will be staged by Atmo in collaboration with Swedish regional film centre Film Väst, Swedish pubcaster SVT, Nordsvensk Filmunderhållning, Chimney, Scanbox, Denmark’s Final Cut for Real, Germany’s Ostlicht Filmproduktion and Morocco’s Kabah-Film Tanger.

Set against the backdrop of the Egyptian Revolution, the thriller, which sucks Noredin into an investigation involving the very elite of Egypt, stars Swedish actor Fares Fares as Noredin, alongside Ger Duany, Slimane Dazi, Mohamed Yousry and Hichem Yacoubi. Scanbox Entertainment will release the film domestically in the autumn of 2017, while Germany’s The Match Factory handles the international sales.