Youth Review
Some people may watch a film like Youth and exclaim that nothing substantial happened. This eleven-minute drama, about a teenage girl’s tryst with adulthood one evening, is a simple, yet impactful tale. While set in contemporary Cairo, the film has a concept that can be universally applied to any young women around the world. The film grapples with the fears and insecurities attached with going from being a child to attaining womanhood and whether this is truly a gradual process or can one event mark this change.
In the beginning, the audience is introduced to this unnamed young teenager in a conversation with her friend in the bathroom at the party. From the first dialogue, her personality is clearly defined. Without her even having to speak, one sentence spoken by her friend to her, says everything about her. “You can’t just stick to me all night,” says her friend as the teenager applies lipstick in an attempt to look more womanly. From this one dialogue, it is clear that this girl is clinging on to her friend due to her inexperience in parties like this. Thus when she goes out with a boy who seems interested in her, it is clear that she is stepping out of her comfort zone. He never makes any moves that she doesn’t expect, but her instincts tell her that she isn’t ready yet and force her to react unexpectedly. The remainder of the film follows her as she attempts to go home in the male-dominated streets of Cairo. As the character encounters many different men within the time on the streets, she had to seem fearless on the outside while trying to deal with this new bout of independence on the inside. As established at the beginning, she had barely spent time outside her friends’ protection, and therefore this experience is scary and at the same time liberating.
Actress Yasmeen El Hawary who plays the unnamed protagonist in this film is extremely effectual in her performance. Though she has more dialogues, this film is less dependent on dialogues as it is on the facial expressions and story progression. Her voice doesn’t convey as much as her face does in those moments when she feels susceptible and vulnerable. When she is in the car with the boy, her apprehension combined with intrigue is apparent in the way she emotes. And later as she is wandering the streets before arriving home, she portrays a strong yet a bit confused young girl.
Youth is Farida Zahran’s second film as a writer and director but her first original short film. With few credits to her name prior to this film, this Egyptian filmmaker in the graduate film program at NYU has created a beautiful film in her first attempt. The decision to set the film in Cairo, Egypt, with characters from her native place gives the film a personal touch. They say a director’s first film is his/her most personal one. The sensitivity with which Zahran deals with this concept suggests similar experiences, which allowed her to shape the narrative in the proper direction. This film which has been sent to many film festivals around the world and has won awards is the perfect start for an aspiring feature film director.