Dreamaway

In recent years, the decline of mass tourism in Egypt has almost wiped the seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh off the package holiday map. Yet in a tentacular hotel that resembles an amusement park, where “no one finds true love”, the staff stays on even though salaries have been cut and no tourists arrive. Each day, they each take up their post, giving a dancing lesson by the swimming pool, playing a DJ set, preparing the massage tables, cleaning empty rooms… The filmmakers Marouan Omara and Johanna Domke closely follow the activities of a group of young employees, but also take an interest in probing their feelings and lay out the strange reality of the places and their lives in surrealistic sequences. A promising debut feature about the ghosts of a new generation.