The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

El Gouna Film Festival was a spectacle of artists, filmmakers, and a full blown fashion show. Throughout the days of the Festival, we took every chance we got to speak with some of the prominent figures in attendance of this grand event, and we managed to have a quick chat with one of the most sought-after people in this event, Abu Bakr Shawky, writer and director of the highly anticipated movie, Yomeddine.

Abu Bakr Shawky has worked on a number of documentary films and short movies as a writer and director and he’s steadily gaining wide fame in the filmmaking industry, thanks to his unique vision. His first video documentary short was El Mosta’mara, heavily discussing the issue of leprosy, and giving people a different view point on the struggles of patients who are shunned by society.

We talked to Abu Bakr Shawky about the challenges he faced while making Yomeddine, how his documentary was the inspiration behind the film, and how he’s glad to see his movie shoot to fame as it did.

Yomeddine talks about leprosy in a way never before discussed, it stars an actual leprosy patient, and strives to show the world a different side of patients, and let them know that they shouldn’t be shunned from society, and fight against the way people are treating leprosy patients. Rady Gamal, the star of the movie, was actually in attendance of the event, and something tells us Abu Bakr fought to make that happen.

Yommedine has garnered international acclaim. At Cannes Film Festival, it won the François Chalais Prize, and it is representing Egyptian cinema at the Academy Awards.

You can catch Yomeddine in Cairo cinemas this week.