Sleeping in the City and The Light After Life

Cairo is a sleepless city. Sleepless people, sleepless animals, sharing a home in a box of noise. Do they notice each other in this din? Sometimes the only recourse is to close your eyes, seal your ears, desperately seek sleep and perhaps rediscover yourself. Sleeping in the City considers how people and animals live side by side in Cairo, urban life thrusting the same challenges upon them. Yet few of us realize these parallels.  The film also raises questions regarding the deterioration of the environment, and challenges viewers to confront their attitudes towards it. We can all find ourselves “sleeping in the city,” but some may have to look harder than others.

This screening of Sleeping in the City and The Light After Life will be followed by a talk by director Mzung Nguyen.

• Mzung Nguyen is an independent filmmaker and freelance journalist from Vietnam. Her work is chiefly concerned with social and environmental issues but also encompass drama and travel writing. her film is characterized both by its with and its ability to be thought-provoking, whilst her eye behind the camera demonstrates both an understanding of the mechanics of both light and life.

• Florence Moutin is an independent trainer and choreographer from France, living in Cairo. She facilitates various artistic workshops (dance0theater, experimental movement, writing) to improve self-confidence, creativity, and expression. As a choreographer, she questions the links between body and mind and more specifically between dance and writing. She is interested in urban space as a reflection of human dynamics.

• Mohamed Farouk is a performer and trainer who has also participated in street performances all over Egypt, as well as facilitating workshops with kids and adults for theater, movement, ceramics, and storytelling. He also works as a director and writer for performances.

This event is sponsored by Heritage Space Gallery, the Multicultural Center, the Carsey-Wolf Center, and the Department of Art.