TWELVE-MONTH HIGHLIGHT(S):
A Third Cannes Notch: El Kashef is returning to this year’s Un Certain Regard with Morad Mostafa’s debut feature AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY.
THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE: El Kashef's second feature, a Somali-set film directed by Mo Harawe, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival before he won the Best Cinematography award at the 35th Carthage Film Festival in December, then he has clinched the Best Cinematography Award at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film in April 2025, in addition to the Best Cinematography nomination at the Austrian Film Academy Awards, which will be announced next June.
More Shorts: The 445th CIFF witnessed the premiere of two films Mostafa shot — Rasha Shahin’s NAHAR ABER and Joseph Adel’s ENOUGH WATER TO DROWN, which Mostafa also produced, in addition to Hind Soheil’s PROMISE TO THE SEA, which premiered at the 35th São Paulo International Short Film Festival.
INTERVIEW
What advice would you give to ensure more successful Arab co-productions? What are the best ways to bring together money, talents, and partners from across the region while still telling authentic stories that are culturally specific?
My advice would be to inspire — to look toward the horizon and seek what connects us as Arabs. We should expose those connections, but at the same time, it’s very crucial to understand one another and produce as many stories as we can about ourselves and the land we live in, with complete honesty. We must genuinely try to explore new ways to collaborate in different ways under the same roof. Shoot films and fight for it.
Spain had its Money Heist moment, and South Korea made a global splash with Squid Games… How close is the Arab World to creating its own global streaming hit?
The industry in the Arab World is growing by the day. Different platforms have appeared where there was nothing, and year by year, they are developing, affording filmmakers and artists of all ages various opportunities.
I think the Arab World has one of the most powerful film and media industries in the world! We’re not behind at all… Soon we’ll go far and wide with our art and culture.
Egyptian films of all genres not only keep breaking local box office records, but they also attract large audiences in Saudi Arabia too. When will this new generation of commercially-focused Arab cinema achieve success outside the Arab-speaking world? What will it take for a global blockbuster to occur?
Whenever I travel in the Arab World, people always understand my language, but I struggle to understand theirs. And they always point out that they were raised on Egyptian cinema and drama; that’s how big and influential Egyptian cinema is! And that’s why Saudi Arabia always invests a lot of money into Egyptian films and urges the Egyptian filmmakers and technicians to work in the kingdom.
With that kind of support, Egypt will soon be able to produce on a global scale. But we need good content, not just money; we need real stories and genuine work to truly establish a strong presence.
