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Artist & Where

Name: Mohamed Diab
City/Place: Cairo
Country: Egypt
Hometown: Ismailia, Egypt

Life & Work

Bio: Mohamed Diab is an award-winning writer and director whose work is often centered on pressing issues concerning Egyptian society.

He's known for his directorial debut film Cairo 678 (Les Femmes du bus 678), which was released a month before the Egyptian revolution and was deemed by the New York Times "unmistakably a harbinger of that revolution."

Diab wrote the blockbuster Egyptian franchise El Gezira (The Island) films which are considered the highest grossing Egyptian and Arabic films of all times. These films revolve around a tyrannical drug lord on an island in Upper Egypt. El Gezira is often quoted and referenced in Egyptian pop culture and was also the 2007 Egyptian nomination for the Academy Awards.

After being heavily involved in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Diab wanted to make a film about it. It took 4 years to develop Eshtebak (Clash) which initially was a film about the rise of the revolution but which ended up being a film that captures the fall of the revolution. The film is set in the violent aftermath of the ouster of president Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood party. Violent clashes had erupted all over Egypt between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and military supporters.

The entire film was shot from within the confines of a police riot truck. Thematically, the film explores the human condition and the roots of terrorism.

The film is a recipient of grants and funding from the San Francisco Film Society, CNC l'aide au Cinémas du Monde and Arte France.

Eshtebak (Clash) was officially selected for the Un Certain Regard category of the Cannes Film Festival 2016.

Besides filmmaking, Diab is known for his vocal participation in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which earned him a Webby Award. His role in the revolution is chronicled in the Amazon best-selling book "Rising From Tahrir."