Simo

The bass booms loudly while Emad is busy lifting weights in front of the mirror. In the shadow of his big brother, Simo finds it difficult to gain recognition. In an unnoticed moment, Simo takes over Emad’s gaming live stream – and is euphoric when the number of viewers explodes. In the heat of the moment, however, he gets caught in the crosshairs of an unexpected opponent. A nuanced portrait of a family that is getting closer together by virtue of detours.
by Aziz Zoromba
with Basel El Rayes, Seif El Rayes, Aladeen Tawfeek
Canada 2022 French, Arabic 24’ European premiere recommendation: 14 years and up

With

  • Basel El Rayes (Simo)
  • Seif El Rayes (Emad)
  • Aladeen Tawfeek (Baba)

Crew

Director Aziz Zoromba
Screenplay Aziz Zoromba
Cinematography Alexandre Nour Desjardins
Editing Omar Elhamy, Aziz Zoromba
Music Ilyaa Ghafouri
Sound Design Ilyaa Ghafouri
Sound Andrés Solis
Production Design Kenny Dorvil, Rebecca Dory
Costumes AJ Hélie
Make-Up Marie Chinda Sok
Producer Rosalie Chicoine Perreault

Aziz Zoromba

The Canadian screenwriter and director of Egyptian heritage studied at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal and is an alumnus of the 2019 Sundance Ignite fellowship. His first short documentary Faraway screened at over 30 international festivals. Simo is his first short fiction film; it has already won the Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Filmography (short films)

2020 Faraway; documentary 2022 Simo

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023