Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim

Title in English:  Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim

Director:  Sherif El Bendary

Country:  Egypt/France/Qatar

Year:  2016

Duration:  92 min.

Language:  Arabic with English subtitles

Awards:  Muhr Award, Best Actor, Dubai International Film Festival, 2016

Ali loves his goat as the incarnation of his dead girlfriend. His neighbor Ibrahim hears impossibly loud phantom noises – an affliction that has cursed three generations of his family. When Ali is told by a mystic to throw a rock in the three seas of Egypt, this squabbling pair of misfits embark on a life-changing road trip with the goat.

Director Sherif El Bendary’s quirky debut feature combines sincerity and absurdity and a whole lot of heart as the action in this realist film crescendos towards its mystical finale. This is a film about processing grief and loss; about friendship and love; and about faith and compassion – not religious faith, but the commonplace day-to-day trust that builds communities.