Too Early / Too Late (1982)

Inspired by a letter by Friedrich Engels and a 1974 account of two militant Marxist writers who had been imprisoned by the Nasser regime, Straub-Huillet filmed this film in France and Egypt during 1980. They 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 Engels as well as the pioneering nonfiction film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895).

Cast

Narrator (segment A) (voice)
Danièle Huillet
Narrator (segment B) (voice) (as Bahgat el Nadi)
B Bahgat Elnadi
Narrator (segment B) (voice)
G Gerard Samaan

Crew

Director
Jean-Marie Straub
Director
Danièle Huillet
Director of Photography
Caroline Champetier
Director of Photography
William Lubtchansky
Director of Photography
Robert Alazraki
Director of Photography
M Marguerite Perlado
Editor
Danièle Huillet
Editor
Jean-Marie Straub
Writer
Danièle Huillet
Writer
Jean-Marie Straub
Sound Recordist
L Louis Hochet
Sound Recordist
Manfred Blank
Producer
Danièle Huillet
Producer
Jean-Marie Straub
Assistant Director
G Gaber Abdel-Ghani
Assistant Director
M Mustafa Darwish
Assistant Director
L Leo Mingrone
Assistant Director
B Baghat Mostafa
Assistant Director
V Vincent Nordon
Assistant Director
I Isaline Panchaud
Assistant Director
R Radovan Tadic
Assistant Director
M Magda Wassef