Egyptian film Feathers wins big at Carthage Film Festival

Egyptian feature film 'Reesh' (Feathers) has won the grand prize of the Carthage Film Festival on Saturday, adding to its growing list of international prizes.

Feathers received the Golden Tanit for Feature Fiction Film awarded by the Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs Hayet Guettat Guermazi.

The Golden Tanit is top prize of the Carthage Film Festival, whose thirty-second edition concluded on Saturday in the Tunisian capital Tunis.

Feathers reaped three additional awards, including "Best Screenplay" and "Best Female Performance", which went to lead actress Demyana Nassar.

Feather's success among critics started in July when it reaped the coveted Critics' Week Grand Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize at the yearly Cannes festival. Last month, Feathers earned the best Arab Narrative Film at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt.

Despite winning multiple international recognitions, Feathers faced criticism from part of the Egyptian audience over its "negative" portrayal of Egyptian society.

Actor Sherif Moneer walked out of the first Egyptian screening of the film, later saying the film presented "exaggerated pictures that distorted our image – a family living in torment, and filth".

Feathers is the first film written and directed by young Egyptian film-maker Omar El-Zohairy.

It depicts the harsh life of a poverty-stricken Egyptian family, abruptly turned upside down one day when the head of the family is turned into a chicken. The film then centres on the mother’s efforts to reverse the curse on her husband.