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Exclusive: Tarik Saleh’s Cannes Competition title Eagles Of The Republic has been acquired by Curzon for UK-Ireland release from Playtime.

It is the final instalment of Swedish-Egyptian Saleh’s Cairo trilogy and sees Fares Fares play Egypt’s most adored actor, who is pressured to star in a film commissioned by the highest authorities. He reluctantly accepts the role and finds himself thrown into the inner circle of power, where he begins an affair with the mysterious wife of the general overseeing the film.

Lyna Khoudri, Amr Waked, Zineb Triki and Cherien Dabis also star.

The producers are Sweden’s Unlimited Stories and Apparaten,...

Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh has been moving up from arthouse The Nile Hilton Incident (read ★★★ review) and genre items The Contractor (read ★★ review) to Cannes type projects such as Cairo Conspiracy aka Boy From Heaven (read ★★½ review). A political thriller and the third and final film in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy, Eagles Of The Republic stars hius muse Fares Fares, Lyna Khoudri, Cherien Dabis, Zineb Triki and Sherwan Haji. Filmed in May of last year, on the verge of losing everything, George is forced to accept the role of President Al-Sisi in a biopic about himself.…...

Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic follows George Fahmy, once Egypt’s most bankable star, as he confronts an impossible moral trial. Summoned by shadowy government agents to embody President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a state-sponsored biopic, Fahmy initially navigates the assignment with wry detachment.

Early scenes unfold on chaotic soundstages, where barking producers demand patriotic flair and the aging actor finds himself hustling for erectile medication under cover of night. As the regime’s grip tightens through threats against his son, the film shifts from dark comedy into a razor-sharp political thriller.

Set in contemporary Cairo under authoritarian rule, Saleh examines the collision of celebrity and coercion, asking how far one will bend when art becomes a weapon and family safety hangs in the balance.

Narrative & Thematic Exploration

Saleh divides the film into three narrative arcs, each escalating stakes and shifting tone. In the opening, on-set absurdities such...

Acclaimed Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker Tarik Saleh spotlights the fraught history of the Arab film industry with his latest film, “Eagles of the Republic.” Saleh concludes his Cairo trilogy films with the satirical political thriller, which takes place in Egypt.

Swedish actor Fares Fares plays a fictionalized Egyptian superstar actor who is pressured to star in a government-commissioned film. After he reluctantly accepts the role, he finds himself thrown into the inner circle of power and begins an affair with the mysterious wife of the general overseeing the film. Lyna Khoudri, Cherien Dabis, Zineb Triki, and Sherwan Haji co-star. “Eagles of the Republic” will premiere in competition at Cannes 2025.

Saleh’s Cairo trilogy began with his 2017 Sundance Grand Jury prize winner, “The Nile Hilton Incident.” Saleh was exiled from Egypt prior to shooting his 2017 film, yet he continued to set films in the country while shooting instead in Turkey. “It’s very sad.

Cannes and Sundance-winning filmmaker Tarik Saleh starts shooting tomorrow (May 15) on political thriller Eagles Of The Republic with Playtime on board for international sales. Memento Distribution will release in France and Sf Studios has bought Nordic rights.

Eagles Of The Republic is third and final film in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy after Sundance Grand Jury prize winner The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Cannes screenplay winner Cairo Conspiracy aka Boy from Heaven (2022).

Written and directed by Saleh, its cast includes Swedish actor Fares Fares, French star Lyna Khoudri, American-Palestinian actress Cherien Dabis, French-Moroccan actress Zineb Triki and Finnish-Syrian actor Sherwan Haji.

Keshet Studios, the U.S. scripted arm of Keshet International, has acquired the U.S. remake rights to the French romantic fantasy thriller series “Vortex” from France TV Distribution.

Based on an original concept by Franck Thilliez, “Vortex” centers on a police captain who stumbles upon a time warp while examining a VR crime scene. He realizes that he can communicate with his lost love, just before her death in 1998. Determined to alter her fate and prevent her murder, Ludovic risks everything, including his life with his new family.

The deal, negotiated by Keshet Studios and Michelle Palant, international sales manager at France TV Distribution, marks Keshet Studos’ first remake deal for a French show.

“Within the first few minutes of watching ‘Vortex,’ I knew this had to be Keshet Studios’ first French adaption for the U.S.,” said Heather Brewster, Keshet Studios’ SVP of scripted. “A deeply emotional, inventive,...

The Rome Film Festival (October 17-27) has unveiled its 2019 official selection, which includes Downton Abbey, Waves, Judy, The Aeronauts, Hustlers and Werner Herzog documentary Nomad[/link] about writer Bruce Chatwin.

A total of 33 films and documentaries will play in the official lineup (full list below). As previously announced, the fest will open with Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn while Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will have a centerpiece screening. Only two Italian movies are included in the main selection.

The festival also revealed a pre-opening October 16 world premiere for John Turturro’s anticipated The Big Lebowski spinoff, The Jesus Rolls, which follows Lebowski character Jesus Quintana.

The impressive lineup of onstage interviews includes Bill Murray and Viola Davis – both of whom will receive lifetime achievement awards – Fanny Ardant, Olivier Assayas, Ethan Coen, Benicio Del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Ron Howard, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Edward Norton, Bertrand Tavernier, John Travolta and Jia Zhangke.

The fictional world of espionage is normally presented to us in the form of people like James Bond where it’s all about action and seducing beautiful women. The Bureau: Complete Season One though gives us a more realistic and deadly interpretation based on real accounts from the French Intelligence Service.

When intelligence officer Guillaume Debailly (Mathieu Kassovitz) returns to Paris after an extended undercover mission in Syria he finds it hard to reconnect to his past life. This is further complicated by the appearance of an old love interest from Syria, Nadia (Zineb Triki) who he reconnects with, putting both himself and her and danger.

The Bureau is a very procedural show and everything is taken seriously. While we mainly follow Debailly’s story, we also follow the stories of two other agents. One is that of new requite Marina Loiseau (Sara Giraudeau) and another, who has disappeared in strange circumstances.