El Sett: Movie screening

Beit Ebla proudly presents a second screening of El Sett, a powerful and visually striking biographical film about the legendary Egyptian singer and actress Umm Kulthum.

We welcome you to Bio Skandia, Drottninggatan, Stockholm, for an evening where film, music, poetry and community come together.

Directed by Marwan Hamed and written by Ahmed Mourad, the film follows Umm Kulthum's life from her childhood in the village of Tamay al-Zahayra to her international breakthrough and iconic status. With Mona Zaki in the lead role, the story portrays a woman navigating tradition, resistance, and power, whose voice came to shape generations and the cultural identity of an entire region.

Moving between the personal and the political, the film captures the social and political transformations of Egypt and the Arab world during the 1950s and 1960s. Her relationships with poets and composers such as Ahmed Rami, Mohamed El Qasabgi, and Riad Al Sunbati play a central role in both her artistic development and personal life.

Before the screening begins, we open the evening with a cultural prelude in her honour — Abbas Najem performs Umm Kulthum on the oud, followed by Kawther Ljustermo reading poetry. An evening within the evening, before the lights go down for El Sett.

📅 May 6
17:00 Doors open & mingle
18:30 Abbas Najem, oud
18:45 Kawther Ljustermo, poetry
19:00 Screening begins
~21:30 End of evening

An evening for those drawn to film, music, history, culture, and stories of women who changed the world.

With love,
Beit Ebla 💚