The Egyptian documentary Lift Like A Girl directed by Mayye Zayed, is set to premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival taking place from 10 to 19 September, 2020. The documentary showcases women who are passionate about weightlifting, and the challenges they have to overcome due to society’s constraining stereotypes, imposing what sports they should and shouldn’t practice.
The documentary revolves around 14-year-old Zebiba who is passionate about weightlifting. She is training on the streets of Alexandria –the director’s hometown-with Captain Ramadan, who is professional coach. Captain Ramadan is the trainer for other champions as well, including his own daughter Nahla, a former world champion and an Olympian, as well as Abeer Abdel Rahman, the first Arab female to win an Olympic medal twice.
As Captain Ramadan’s faith in Zebiba’s potential and abilities grows, he becomes her number one supporter throughout her training journey. The ups and downs of her journey, including the great losses she experiences, all come together to shape Zebiba to make her up to be the girl she is today. Through her trials and tribulations, Zebiba becomes even stronger than she ever was, and is able to overcome the challenges in her path to reach her goals and realise her ambitions.
Among the projects that Mayye Zayed has worked on is the 2016 experimental film A Stroll Down Sunflower Lane, which she directed, produced and edited. Zayed also co-directed and co-produced the collaborative feature, The Mice Room, with five other filmmakers. Furthermore, she also edited the feature documentary, I Have a Picture, which won several awards including Best Arab Feature Documentary at El-Gouna Film Festival in 2017, Best Documentary at the Tripoli Film Festival 2018 and Best Documentary at the Sharjah Film Platform 2019.