Light upon Light

Name: Light upon Light
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2022
Duration: 78 min

Director: Christian Suhr

Rights:

Highlights

Competed in the Cairo International Film Festival's International Critics’ Week
Held its world premiere at the 19th edition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival's Nordic Competition (CPH:DOX)
Was the opening film at the Athens Ethnographic Film Festival
Filmmaker introduced a master class about the film at Etnokino Bern

2022/ Egypt - Denmark78 min/ Documentary

Original Title

Nour Ala Nour

SYNOPSIS

One day, an Egyptian friend gave Danish anthropologist Christian Suhr a good piece of advice: “Stop focusing on all the darkness in the world and look at the light instead.” Suhr takes us on a journey to Cairo along the Nile and into the desert to understand what light means to the people he meets along the way. Through conversations and observations of breathtaking rituals, the light slowly breaks through and nuances the image of a religion often viewed with prejudice and reduced to simplistic clichés.

CAST

Aya El-Hosseiny Sonia Hassan Maher Al-Sharnouby Magda Habshey

CREW

Screenwriter: Muhammad Mustapha and Christian Suhr
DOP: Christian Suhr, Amira Mortada, and Muhammad Mustapha
Editor: Muhammad Mustapha and Christian Suhr

Production Company(ies)

Hassala Films

Producer(s)

Hala Lotfy

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) (Nordic Competition), Denmark

Cairo International Film Festival (International Critics’ Week), Egypt

Ethnofest - Athens Ethnographic Film Festival (opening film), Greece

Etnokino Bern, Switzerland

Amsterdam Ethnographic Film Day, Netherlands

Practices, Aesthetics and Entanglements Conference, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, Sweden

Arabian Nights Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Mariam Mosque, Denmark

Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark

European Film College, Denmark

Jean Rouch International Film Festival (Immersive Filmmaking Competition), France

International Documentary Film Festival Vienna (Main Program), Austria

Freiburger Filmforum, Germany

International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec, Canada

Mind & Life Europe, Italy

NAFA Film Festival, Denmark

American Academy of Religion, US

Special mention at Jean Rouch International Film Festival

Reviews

Deborah Young - Film Verdict

Nahla Alam - Haven Magazine

Safaa Elaisy

Quotes

"Danish director and anthropologist Christian Suhr's feature documentary offers a respectful yet compelling peek into the surprisingly diverse communities of Sufi worshippers within the Islamic tradition of Egypt."
Deborah Young — Film Verdict

"From charity Iftar tables to documentary films… LIGHT UPON LIGHT handles spiritual thought at the CIFF"
Nahla Alam — Haven Magazine

"LIGHT UPON LIGHT explores people's perceptions of divine light and the light of Prophet Mohamed. The Danish director Suhr captured the Sufi spirit of Egyptians, particularly women."
Safaa Elaithy

"Searching for the meaning of light in a road movie."
Safaa Elaithy