Short Films

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Specter

TOO EARLY, TOO LATE
TROP TÔT/TROP TARD

• Director: Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
• FRANCE, EGYPT / 1981 / DCP / Colour and B&W / 100’ / German, French, Arabic; Turkish, English s.t.

• Director of Photography: Caroline Champetier, William Lubtchansky, Robert Alazraki, Marguerite Perlado
• Editing: Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
• Cast: Anlatanlar Narrators: Danièle Huillet, Bahgat El Nadi, Gérard Samaan
• Producer: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub
• World Sales: Grasshopper Films

Inspired by a letter written by Friedrich Engels and a 1974 account of two militant Marxist writers who had been imprisoned by the Nasser regime, directors Straub & Huillet filmed Too Early / Too Late in France and Egypt during the anxious months of 1980 that followed the Camp David Accords and culminated in Anwar Sadat’s assassination the following year. The filmmakers reflect on Egypt’s history of peasant struggle and liberation from Western colonization, and link it to class tensions in France shortly before the Revolution of 1789, quoting texts by Friedrich Engels. Co-director Danièle Huillet passed away in 2006 and Jean-Marie Straub in November 2022. On the occasion of this screening, we pay tribute to the directing duo, who left unforgettable films to the history of cinema by adhering to their unique style throughout their filmography.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.