Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic “Kira and El Gen” about local resistance to British occupation recently scored at the local box office, is being feted with a career award by the El Gouna Film Festival.
The Egyptian fest, running Oct. 13-20 in the Red Sea resort roughly 250 miles south of Cairo, is also paying tribute to the Sudanese Film Group, a groundbreaking collective of filmmakers, and is planning an homage to late great British-French icon Jane Birkin.
Hamed (pictured above) broke out internationally in 2006 with his bold adaptation of Alaa Aswany’s bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building” that became a game-changer in Egytian cinema due to the way it depicted homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalism and government corruption. After “Yacoubian” become a local hit and travelled widely Hamed scored again big time with “The Blue Elephant,” a thriller with supernatural elements and its sequel “The Blue Elephant 2” that more...
The Egyptian fest, running Oct. 13-20 in the Red Sea resort roughly 250 miles south of Cairo, is also paying tribute to the Sudanese Film Group, a groundbreaking collective of filmmakers, and is planning an homage to late great British-French icon Jane Birkin.
Hamed (pictured above) broke out internationally in 2006 with his bold adaptation of Alaa Aswany’s bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building” that became a game-changer in Egytian cinema due to the way it depicted homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalism and government corruption. After “Yacoubian” become a local hit and travelled widely Hamed scored again big time with “The Blue Elephant,” a thriller with supernatural elements and its sequel “The Blue Elephant 2” that more...
- 10/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) will honor Egyptian director Marwan Hamed with a life Career Achievement Award at its upcoming sixth edition, running from October 6 to 12.
It marks the first element of the program to be announced as the Egyptian Red Sea festival returns this year following a one year hiatus in 2022.
Hamed studied film at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. His first short Li Li, adapted from a short story by Yusuf Idris, played at numerous festivals, winning the Audience Award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Golden Award at the Carthage Film Festival.
He broke out with his 2006 first feature The Yacoubian Building, adapted from Alaa Al-Aswany’s best-selling novel, which captures Egyptian society in the 1990s and the consequences of its extremes of wealth and poverty.
Featuring an ensemble cast, including Egyptian icons Adel Imam, Nour El-Sherif and Yousra alongside then...
It marks the first element of the program to be announced as the Egyptian Red Sea festival returns this year following a one year hiatus in 2022.
Hamed studied film at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. His first short Li Li, adapted from a short story by Yusuf Idris, played at numerous festivals, winning the Audience Award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Golden Award at the Carthage Film Festival.
He broke out with his 2006 first feature The Yacoubian Building, adapted from Alaa Al-Aswany’s best-selling novel, which captures Egyptian society in the 1990s and the consequences of its extremes of wealth and poverty.
Featuring an ensemble cast, including Egyptian icons Adel Imam, Nour El-Sherif and Yousra alongside then...
- 7/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Jury
Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15). Tornatore’s latest documentary, “Ennio,” about revered composer Ennio Morricone, which bowed at Venice, will have its Arab premiere at the festival out-of-competition in the International Spectacular strand.
Joining Tornatore on the jury are Tunisian actor Hend Sabry (“The Blue Elephant 2”) Palestinian-American director, writer, actor and producer Cherien Dabis (“Amreeka”), Morelia International Film Festival director Daniela Michel and Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Alshlahei (“Zero Distance”).
The Red Sea shorts competition jury will be led by Egypt’s Marwan Hamed, director of Tribeca winner “The Yacoubian Building”) who will be joined by Saudi Arabian actor and director Ahd Kamel (“Wadjda”) and Finnish-Somali director and writer Khadar Ayderus (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”).
Trailer
Universal Pictures has released a trailer for “Redeeming Love,...
Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15). Tornatore’s latest documentary, “Ennio,” about revered composer Ennio Morricone, which bowed at Venice, will have its Arab premiere at the festival out-of-competition in the International Spectacular strand.
Joining Tornatore on the jury are Tunisian actor Hend Sabry (“The Blue Elephant 2”) Palestinian-American director, writer, actor and producer Cherien Dabis (“Amreeka”), Morelia International Film Festival director Daniela Michel and Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Alshlahei (“Zero Distance”).
The Red Sea shorts competition jury will be led by Egypt’s Marwan Hamed, director of Tribeca winner “The Yacoubian Building”) who will be joined by Saudi Arabian actor and director Ahd Kamel (“Wadjda”) and Finnish-Somali director and writer Khadar Ayderus (“The Gravedigger’s Wife”).
Trailer
Universal Pictures has released a trailer for “Redeeming Love,...
- 11/24/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Three years after the first movie theater reopened in Saudi Arabia – following removal of a religion-related ban – the kingdom has become the top theatrical market in the Middle East and is turning into a major driver for Arabic film production.
“At the moment Saudi is on a different path from the rest of the world,” says David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia, which sees this new market as having the potential to be ranked among the top 10-15 territories for box office worldwide by 2024.
By 2024 Omdia estimates there will be 1,400 screens in Saudi Arabia, up from a current count of less than 300 screens in 2020 with more than 600 screens expected in 2021. In 2020 Saudi box office was up 3% to $115 million, bucking the downward trend in the rest of the world.
But besides growing box office and screen count, just like in other parts of the world such as China where there is moviegoing growth,...
“At the moment Saudi is on a different path from the rest of the world,” says David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia, which sees this new market as having the potential to be ranked among the top 10-15 territories for box office worldwide by 2024.
By 2024 Omdia estimates there will be 1,400 screens in Saudi Arabia, up from a current count of less than 300 screens in 2020 with more than 600 screens expected in 2021. In 2020 Saudi box office was up 3% to $115 million, bucking the downward trend in the rest of the world.
But besides growing box office and screen count, just like in other parts of the world such as China where there is moviegoing growth,...
- 3/4/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Cameras are set to roll in February on the long delayed Arabic adaptation of hit Italian concept movie “Perfect Strangers” with a high-caliber ensemble cast now in place comprising star Lebanese director/actor Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”).
After being postponed due to both Covid-19 and political turmoil in Lebanon, the latest in a slew of remakes of the dramedy involving cellphones and personal secrets, is now on track for principal photography to start February 2. It will be directed by Lebanese first-timer Wissam Smayra who has co-written the Arabic “Perfect Strangers” screenplay with Gabriel Yammine.
Along with Labaki, the pan-Arabic “Perfect Strangers” cast also features Egypt’s Mona Zaki; Egypt-based Jordanian actor/director Eyad Nassar (“The Blue Elephant 2”); Lebanon’s Diamand Bou Abboud (“The Fixer”), Adel Karam (“The Insult”), and fellow Lebanese actor/director/playwright/composer Georges Khabbaz, who co-wrote “Capernaum.”
The original “Perfect Strangers” was directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese...
After being postponed due to both Covid-19 and political turmoil in Lebanon, the latest in a slew of remakes of the dramedy involving cellphones and personal secrets, is now on track for principal photography to start February 2. It will be directed by Lebanese first-timer Wissam Smayra who has co-written the Arabic “Perfect Strangers” screenplay with Gabriel Yammine.
Along with Labaki, the pan-Arabic “Perfect Strangers” cast also features Egypt’s Mona Zaki; Egypt-based Jordanian actor/director Eyad Nassar (“The Blue Elephant 2”); Lebanon’s Diamand Bou Abboud (“The Fixer”), Adel Karam (“The Insult”), and fellow Lebanese actor/director/playwright/composer Georges Khabbaz, who co-wrote “Capernaum.”
The original “Perfect Strangers” was directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese...
- 12/29/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and filmmaker who landed an Oscar nomination as director of 2018’s record-smashing feature Capernaum, has been cast in the upcoming Arabic language remake of hit Italian drama Perfect Strangers.
Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).
First announced in late 2018, the Perfect ...
Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).
First announced in late 2018, the Perfect ...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Nadine Labaki, the Lebanese actress and filmmaker who landed an Oscar nomination as director of 2018’s record-smashing feature Capernaum, has been cast in the upcoming Arabic language remake of hit Italian drama Perfect Strangers.
Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).
First announced in late 2018, the Perfect Strangers...
Labaki joins an impressive lineup of Arabic stars, including Mona Zaki (30 Years Ago, Scheherazade: Tell Me A Story, Escaping Tel Aviv), Adel Karam (The Insult, Caramel, Netflix’s Live From Beirut), Eyad Nassar (The Looming Tower, Sons of Rizk 2, The Blue Elephant 2), Diamand Bou Abboud (The Insult, The Sculptor, The Fixer) and Lebanese legend, actor screen and playwright George Khabbaz (Under the Bombs, Ghadi, and co-writer of Capernaum).
First announced in late 2018, the Perfect Strangers...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Egyptian filmmaker Marwan Hamed, the director of “The Yacoubian Building,” “The Blue Elephant” and “The Blue Elephant 2,” which last year became the highest-grossing Egyptian film in history, is shooting “Kira and El Gen,” based on Ahmed Mourad’s book “1919,” about Egyptian resistance to British occupation. He spoke to Variety about the project at the Cairo Film Festival.
Produced by Ahmed Badawy, managing director of Tamer Morsi’s Synergy Films, the budget is north of $10 million, making it the most expensive film in Egyptian cinema history. The film stars some of the biggest names in Arab cinema, including Karim Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Ezz, Hind Sabri and Ahmad Malek. British actor Sam Hazeldine also appears.
Hamed says that the opening of cinemas in Saudi Arabia with its sizeable box-office potential has created a landscape where Arab financiers can plan for better returns on films. “What actually encouraged such an investment...
Produced by Ahmed Badawy, managing director of Tamer Morsi’s Synergy Films, the budget is north of $10 million, making it the most expensive film in Egyptian cinema history. The film stars some of the biggest names in Arab cinema, including Karim Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Ezz, Hind Sabri and Ahmad Malek. British actor Sam Hazeldine also appears.
Hamed says that the opening of cinemas in Saudi Arabia with its sizeable box-office potential has created a landscape where Arab financiers can plan for better returns on films. “What actually encouraged such an investment...
- 12/6/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
An overwhelming amount of subscribers might not have been able to look past Enola Holmes when it debuted on Wednesday, with the literary adaptation dominating both the online chatter and Top 10 most-watched list ever since, but the apparent franchise starter wasn’t the only title to arrive on Netflix this week worthy of spending a couple of hours on.
Of course, the streaming service isn’t in the position to have a library built entirely on in-house content, and likely won’t be for a long while yet, but as the platform with seemingly the biggest bank account that’s spending $20 billion on original projects alone and millions more on the distribution rights to pre-existing material each year, Netflix have long since established themselves as the ones to beat.
Almost every week, at least one new movie or TV show arrives that generates plenty of buzz and becomes one of...
Of course, the streaming service isn’t in the position to have a library built entirely on in-house content, and likely won’t be for a long while yet, but as the platform with seemingly the biggest bank account that’s spending $20 billion on original projects alone and millions more on the distribution rights to pre-existing material each year, Netflix have long since established themselves as the ones to beat.
Almost every week, at least one new movie or TV show arrives that generates plenty of buzz and becomes one of...
- 9/27/2020
- by Scott Campbell
- We Got This Covered
The deal is part of a new collaboration aimed at bolstering the international release of Egyptian features.
Egypt’s Misr International Films (Mif) and Arab cinema promotional agency Mad Solutions have announced they are teaming to co-distribute worldwide record-breaking hit The Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers (El Feel-el Azra’a) as part of a new collaboration aimed at bolstering the international release of Egyptian features.
Also known simply as The Blue Elephant 2, the film is the sequel to Marwan Hamad’s 2014 horror mystery drama starring Karim Aziz as a psychiatrist specialised in working with interned mental patients who are also criminals.
Egypt’s Misr International Films (Mif) and Arab cinema promotional agency Mad Solutions have announced they are teaming to co-distribute worldwide record-breaking hit The Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers (El Feel-el Azra’a) as part of a new collaboration aimed at bolstering the international release of Egyptian features.
Also known simply as The Blue Elephant 2, the film is the sequel to Marwan Hamad’s 2014 horror mystery drama starring Karim Aziz as a psychiatrist specialised in working with interned mental patients who are also criminals.
- 9/9/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Cairo-based Tunisian actress Hend Sabry, who is at the Venice Film Festival as a member of the jury for debut films, is having a good year.
“The Blue Elephant 2,” a thriller with horror elements in which she stars – directed by Marwan Hamed who cast her more than a decade ago in “The Yacoubian Building” – recently became Egypt’s all-time top box office earner. And right after Venice, she is heading to Toronto to promote first-time Tunisian director Hinde Boujemaa’s “Noura Dreams,” a drama about a woman who dreams of divorcing her husband who is about to be released from jail.
Sabry spoke to Variety about how the Arab film industry is changing and the ongoing role that women are playing in its transformation.
What’s changing in the Arab film industry? Is Netflix, which recently announced it’s first Egyptian original titled “Paranormal,” impacting the landscape?
The arrival...
“The Blue Elephant 2,” a thriller with horror elements in which she stars – directed by Marwan Hamed who cast her more than a decade ago in “The Yacoubian Building” – recently became Egypt’s all-time top box office earner. And right after Venice, she is heading to Toronto to promote first-time Tunisian director Hinde Boujemaa’s “Noura Dreams,” a drama about a woman who dreams of divorcing her husband who is about to be released from jail.
Sabry spoke to Variety about how the Arab film industry is changing and the ongoing role that women are playing in its transformation.
What’s changing in the Arab film industry? Is Netflix, which recently announced it’s first Egyptian original titled “Paranormal,” impacting the landscape?
The arrival...
- 9/6/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.