Celebrate the opening of the 10th edition of SAFAR Film Festival with the UK Premiere of the newly restored Watch Out for Zouzou (1972), by Hassan El-Imam. The presentation of this much loved classic honours SAFAR’s beginnings as a festival dedicated to popular Arab cinema and was featured in the inaugural programme. Back by popular demand and in a revived format, Watch Out for Zouzou was one of the highest-grossing Egyptian films of all time. Starring Suad Husni – known affectionately as the ‘Cinderella of the Screen’ and often compared to Marilyn Monroe – the story examines societal tensions when traditional values and social mores are challenged by modern liberalism in 1970s Egypt. What could be described in modern terms as a ‘musical dramedy’, the story tells of Zouzou, a student who comes from a family of entertainers, but if her peers were to discover that she is a belly dancer by night both her studies and blossoming romance would be at great risk.
