Arabs of Maadi
About the Film
Love and September Laws” is a historical political/romantic drama inspired by true events in 1980s Sudan. When African-American journalist Carter arrives in Khartoum to cover growing unrest, he hires Fatin, an eloquent translator with a mysterious past — unaware she is the ex-wife of his former university flatmate, Nouri, now a respected doctor and follower of reformist thinker Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, imprisoned for opposing the regime’s use of religion as a political weapon.
As Carter investigates a politically explosive government operation hidden from the public, he is drawn closer to Fatin. Meanwhile, Nouri is suspended from the hospital for refusing to carry out a court-ordered amputation.
Personal and political tensions collide as the trio navigates duty, purpose, and forbidden love. When the regime sentences Taha and his disciples — including Nouri — to death, Carter and Fatin risk everything to save him. But their efforts come at a steep price, and justice arrives too late.
Country(s): Egypt, Sweden
Production company: Bonanza
Coproduction Company: Garage film
Runtime: 120 min
Director Ayten Amin
Ayten Amin is an Egyptian filmmaker known for blending intimate storytelling with auteur cinema and popular television. She began her career with the acclaimed short “Her Man” (2006), selected at Clermont-Ferrand. Her debut feature Villa 69 (2013) won the Special Jury Prize at Abu Dhabi. In 2017, she co-directed the hit TV series Seventh Neighbor. Her second feature, Souad (2020), was selected for Cannes and Berlinale, and won Best Actress at Tribeca. It was Egypt’s Oscar submission and distributed by the BFI. In 2023, she served on the Berlinale jury. She recently developing her third feature, Arabs of Maadi.
Producer Sawsan Youssef
Sawsan Yusuf is an Egyptian producer, born in 1988. She holds a degree in Drama and Criticism from Ain Shams University and is an alumna of Berlin talents, Rotterdam Lab (IFFR) and Creative Producer Indaba with EAVE. She also participated in the Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival.
She began her career in 2009, working as a coordinator for several festivals and film markets in the Middle East, alongside her work as a line producer in independent cinema—particularly in documentaries and short films.
In 2019, she founded her production company Bonanza Films, through which she produced several acclaimed short films that were selected at prestigious festivals. In 2025, she produced the feature film Aisha Can’t Fly Away, which had its world premiere at the Festival de Cannes – Un Certain Regard.
Coproducer Mimmi Spang
Mimmi Spång is a Swedish film producer and executive producer, best known as the founder and head of Garagefilm International, an independent production company based in Stockholm. Established in 2007, Garagefilm International specializes in award-winning feature films and television series distinguished by strong artistic ambition and contemporary storytelling.
Spång has produced and co-produced a wide range of internationally acclaimed films, including Sebbe, A Soap, Call Mom!, Sick of Myself, Godland, and The Hypnosis. Many of these works have premiered at major international film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto, earning critical recognition and numerous awards.
Since 2010, Spång has run Garagefilm International alongside producer Anna-Maria Kantarius. Together, they have built a catalogue of more than forty titles, with the company receiving over eighty international awards, including two Guldbagge Awards for Best Film.