Edited from Egyptian sci-fi film The Master of Time about an enlightened scientist attempting to find the key to eternal life, directed by Kamal el Sheikh in 1987, Threshold flows from an intuition. If a film were emptied of fictional elements, retaining only transition shots featuring doors, gates, and other boundary crossings, it would reveal its quintessence: an obsession with eternity. Despite the plot being erased from the film, enough of the fiction still seeps in for the viewer to grasp the narrative threads. The viewer joins the main character, Mr. Kamel, who is stuck in an endless loop of space and time, fulfilling the scientist’s prophecy. (WR)

This film is presented as part of the Focus Bidayyat : New Beginnings, presented in collaboration with World Records, and with the support of Critical Media Lab McGill and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Threshold