Toul omry

All my life treats the subject of Egyptian gay men who have been oppressed and suppressed from expressing their attraction to other men. You will feel with the suffering of gay tormented Egyptian men who feel regret after having affairs with other men. All my life is a true movie from the great and daring Egyptian director who shows some scenes of full frontal male nudity and really managed to provide a fantastic gay movie aimed at the gay adult audience. 10 out of 10.

The beauty of this film is not in the quality of acting or production, but rather the plot and issues it raises. Having seen many independent gay-themed films this is the first to my knowledge that brings in an unabashed and unashamed manner gay issues facing the Middleeast (in particular Cairo, Egypt) neatly packaged in a simple yet complex and entertaining plot spoken in the country's native Arabic tongue. The movie also is not only centered around the protagonist, Rami. Rather it introduces several other characters that revolve around him and play an equally central role with each character bringing to light mainly tribulations but also some joys of gay life in Cairo. Not too long into the film and it becomes pretty clear that that this is an amateur production probably done on less than a shoe string budget which is a testament to the courage of the producer and actors in completing this and providing a thoroughly entertaining and expressive film.

All in all. . . two thumbs up!

Although it is a low budget and first -time actors movie but it presents a topic never discussed in the Middle East openly and with courage as this movie did. For the first time, we see an Egyptian movie, with Arab actors that addressed homosexuality and human rights issues in the Arab World. it shows how difficult it is socially, religiously and even security wise to be a gay person in an Arab country. we hope to see more movies, with better quality of course, in the future that would shed more light on such topics. But for Toul Omry, it is the first serious attempt to uncover taboos in a region plagued with extremism. brave work, but needs more professional guidance int he future.

I had seen this when it came out and had not been impressed. The poor production values and pretty bad acting were dire enough to obscure the message that the film was attempting to convey. This time round the film seemed more relevant and urgent due to the present-day kleptocracy of Sisi which has take the excesses of the Mubarak era to new heights of horror. That gay people were not persecuted under the democracy interregnum run by a Muslim party says volumes about the hypocrisy and venality of the current regime. So the film is even more relevant today.

The information on this site says the film was shot on location in Cairo. This is simply not believable. The only convincing outdoor scenes were shot in California of Dalia demonstrating and on anti-war marches. Scenes from Cairo were generic and cut in. When Rami and Atef were supposedly on the banks of the Nile it was clearly a scene shot in front of some primitive green screen affair. Virtually everything else was on a set. Some of these were just awful - the window frames through which Mina spied on Rami were particularly laughable. There was clearly a small budget for this film.

As for the acting oddly the two absolute worst contributors were both Americans - the hotel tourist and Marc who played Karim's lover. The rest of the cast surpassed these two but not by too much.

Nonetheless... the film's message is more important nowadays than ever. Terrible crimes are being committed against innocent people with the connivance and approval of the state. Such a pity that some of the finance came from Zionist sources as this discredits that message - I have already seen derogatory comments about this film alluding to this and exhortations not to believe propaganda. Whatever the motivations of the funders the film was true when it was made and is once more a realistic portrayal of the oppression suffered by LGBT people in Sisi's Egypt. Despite it's faults (and the film is too long) I'll recommend a viewing.

This is not a "good" film and is definitely not a "feel-good" film either. The acting is often below average (sometimes to hilarious effects) and it is clear that it was made on a minute budget. It is however a incredibly brave and courageous film. The subject matter and its geographical/social context make it so. The poor quality of the production becomes itself a clear indication of the oppression and the violence experienced by some of the characters. It is clear that the film attempts to cover too many issues, however it is difficult to deny that in the mixture of soap and drama sprinkled with a bit of sex, all the issues are fascinating and demands keen attention.