Boy from Heaven

Walad Min Al Janna

63rd TIFF: Greek Premiere

Tarik Saleh brings on the screen the intimate ties between the Egyptian Church and State in a film brimming with paranoia, mystery, and conspiracies. Adam, a fisherman’s son, is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of the power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo the university’s highest-ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam soon becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite. Reminiscent of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, Boy From Heaven unfolds a fascinating political thriller set in the heart of Egypt’s religious and secular institutions.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Tarik Saleh

Script: Tarik Saleh

Cinematography: Pierre Aïm

Editing: Theis Schmidt

Sound: Pontus Borg

Music: Krister Linder

Actors: Tawfeek Barhom, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram J. Khoury, Sherwan Haji, Mehdi Dehbi

Production: Atmo Production

Producers: Kristina Åberg, Fredrik Zander

Co-production: Memento Production, Bufo, Film i Väst, Sveriges Television, Mikael Ahlström Films, Haymaker, ARTE France Cinéma, Post Control, Final Cut For Real

Costumes: Denise Östholm

Production Design: Roger Rosenberg

Make Up: Pia Cornelius

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: Sweden, France, Finland

Production Year: 2022

Duration: 125΄

Distribution in Greece: Cinobo

Contact: Memento International

Awards/Distinctions: Best Screenplay – Cannes Film Festival 2022

Tarik Saleh

Tarik Saleh started as one of the top graffiti artists in Stockholm in the 80s. He directed and wrote the screenplay for The Nile Hilton Incident, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2017, received a Guldbagge Award for Best Film in 2018, was nominated as Best Foreign Film at the César Awards, and was a box office hit with more than 400,000 tickets sold in France. He directed the action thriller The Contractor (2022), starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Kiefer Sutherland, several episodes of the futuristic HBO series Westworld (2018), the Showtime series Ray Donovan, and the thriller Tommy (2014), featuring Ola Rapace, Moa Gammel, and singer-songwriter Lykke Li, for whom he also directed the music video “I Follow Rivers” (more that 80 million views on YouTube). His film debut Metropia (2009), a dystopic animation, premiered at the Venice Film Festival as the opening film for Critics’ Week.