Hesham Issawi
Born
Egypt
Occupation(s)Director, writer and producer
Years active1995–present

Hesham Issawi (Arabic: هشام عيسوي) is an Egyptian American writer and director.[1][2][3] He is best known for his work on the films AmericanEast and Cairo Exit.[4][5]

Life and career

Hesham was born in Egypt, and moved to the United States in 1990. He attended film school, Columbia College Chicago, and graduated in 1996.[6] He began his career working at a local TV station as an editor and in the documentary world before directing a few short subjects of his own. He wrote and directed the 2004 short film, The Interrogation, which won best creative short film at the New York Film Festival and best music score at the California Film Festival. In 2005, he co-wrote and directed the short film, T for Terrorist, which won best short film at both the Boston and San Francisco Film Festivals.

Hesham's debut feature film, AmericanEast, about the plight of Middle Eastern people in America after 9/11, starred Sayed Badreya, Tony Shalhoub and Sarah Shahi. The movie was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival and won best picture at the Madrid Film Festival, 2008.[7]

Hesham has lived between Cairo and Los Angeles since 2010. Believing in independent cinema, he decided to make Cairo Exit in his homeland. The movie was shot in Cairo with no permits due to the censorship rejecting the script.[8] The film was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and many other festivals.[9] The film won one future prize at the Filmfest München. It won prizes at Filmfest München and the European Independent film festival.[10][11]

In 2015, he finished his latest film, The Price, which was screened at the Cairo International Film Festival and was released in Egyptian theater later.[12]

Filmography

Year Title Writer Director Producer Notes
2002 Saving the Sphinx Red X Red X Green tick
2003 Saving Egyptian Film Classics Green tick Red X Red X
2004 The Interrogation Green tick Green tick Green tick Short film
2005 T for Terrorist Green tick Green tick Green tick Short film
2005 Mush Red X Red X Green tick Short film
2008 AmericanEast Green tick Green tick Red X
2010 Cairo Exit Green tick Green tick Red X
2014 Brother in Terror Documentary Red X Red X Green tick
2015 The Price Red X Green tick Red X
2019 High Fences Green tick Green tick Red X Post-production

As editor

  • 2003 - The Mole
  • 2003 - Saving Egyptian Film Classics
  • 2004 - The Interrogation
  • 2005 - T for Terrorist
  • 2005 - Voices of Iraq
  • 2006 - Things You Don't Tell...

References

  1. ↑ "Meet the 2011 Tribeca Filmmakers - "Cairo Exit" Director Hesham Issawi". indiewire.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  2. ↑ "Hesham Issawi". torinofilmlab.it. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  3. ↑ "Director goes off Egypt's script". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  4. ↑ "AmericanEast". variety.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  5. ↑ "HESHAM ISSAWI: CAIRO EXIT". tribecafilm.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  6. ↑ "Hesham Issawi". spla.pro. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  7. ↑ ""AmericanEast" Comes to DC". wrmea.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  8. ↑ "Previously banned tale of forbidden love may now be shown in Egypt". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  9. ↑ "Diff makes pride of place for Cairo Exit". thenational.ae. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  10. ↑ "AWARDS & WINNERS". filmfest-muenchen.de. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  11. ↑ "The European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU) April 1, 2 and 3 in Paris". theblondecherie.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  12. ↑ "El Teman The Price". berlinale-talents.de. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
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