There’s a certain freedom in anonymity; the freedom for example to skip work and go swimsuit shopping which is really for the greater good. Swimsuits mean beach holidays, and holidays mean happy employees. And if what it takes to convince your boss of that is to tell him your dad’s in the ICU, then so be it. He’s stuck in a full-day meeting anyway; what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. But what about your boss’ boss? What if he’s swimsuit shopping too?
Our film tells the sad tale of this busted lie. What starts as a rather dramatic, but ultimately white lie, ends with a showdown in the fitting room between an MD and a junior. Two men, yelling at each other, dressed in blazers up top, and watermelon-print swimming trunks down below.
Don’t go to City Centre Almaza if you don’t want to be seen. Everyone’s there.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
Cairo’s a huge, sprawling city, but inside that chaos, we’re a very tight-knit society, and our favorite hang-outs are neighborhood spots where the patrons are all regulars and more like family.
Malls however are the exception to this rule, and going to the mall is now an activity that can - and often does - take up the whole day. Each new mall that pops up is further away and larger than the one before. Forget bumping into anyone else there, you’ll lose yourself if you’re not careful.
City Centre Almaza however bucked this trend. Instead of setting up shop in a satellite city, it’s smack dab in the middle of one of Cairo’s busiest, most densely populated districts. It’s big enough to house everything you’d need in a mall, but still compact and cozy - the opposite of the overwhelming mall experience that we’ve come to consider as normal.
Provide the full film script in English.
This is Fady
Fady is here at City Centre on a weekday trying on some swimming trunks
He managed to convince everyone at work that his dad’s in “critical condition” at the ICU
And that he must go see him.
Needless to say Fady was excused
And other than the fifty something messages on his phone asking about his daddy
He’s thinking this is going quite well
And that I should do it more often.
But wait, not so fast Fady.
Because guess who’s in the very next room also trying some swim trunks
Yep, you guessed it.
It’s the big boss, the big kahuna, the managing director and the boss of Fady’s boss.
He sees Fady and immediately asks
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital with your dad”
“Have you been lying to us Fady?”
“Or did you leave your dying dat at the ICU and come buy some swimming trunks?”
Of course, Fady got defensive and started talking back to a man who is ten times more senior
And needless to say, it got ugly. And loud.
People started to take notice of these two grown men in half suits, half swim suits.
To cut a long story short
Just don’t go to City Centre
Everyone’s there.