Marwan Hamed holds a diverse repertoire in directing as well as producing films, in addition to directing over 300 commercials, TV drama series and music videos.
Graduated from the High Institute of Cinema in 1999, Marwan Hamed started his cinematic career in 2000 as an Assistant Director. During his studies, he directed two short films and several documentaries, but what stood out from the crowd was his 40-minute Lilly. Based on a short story by renowned Writer Yousef Idrees, the film was a great success, garnering various international awards including the Prix du Public at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, Golden award at the Carthage Film Festival, and the Silver prize at Milano Film Festival for African Cinema. The film was screened on various TV channels including the ARTE network.
Marwan Hamed holds a diverse repertoire in directing as well as producing films, in addition to directing over 300 commercials, TV drama series and music videos.
Graduated from the High Institute of Cinema in 1999, Marwan Hamed started his cinematic career in 2000 as an Assistant Director. During his studies, he directed two short films and several documentaries, but what stood out from the crowd was his 40-minute Lilly. Based on a short story by renowned Writer Yousef Idrees, the film was a great success, garnering various international awards including the Prix du Public at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, Golden award at the Carthage Film Festival, and the Silver prize at Milano Film Festival for African Cinema. The film was screened on various TV channels including the ARTE network.
In 2006, Marwan directed his feature debut, The Yacoubian Building, based on Alaa Al Aswani's celebrated novel of the same name. The film received several awards from prestigious international film festivals, making him the youngest director in Egypt to receive such high critical acclaim.
The Yacoubian Building holds the record for the highest production budget film in the history of Egyptian Cinema to date. The film dominated the Egyptian box-office for the entire summer season in 2006 reaching EGP 30 million. In France, the admissions in theaters reached 185,000. The film was released in 39 prints, and was sold to 38 territories outside the Arab world.
It was also screened at many international festivals including the Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama section, AFI Film Festival in USA, Cannes Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival in London, Chicago International Film Festival in USA, Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece. The film won numerous awards including the best New Narrative Filmmaker award at Tribeca Film Festival in 2006, the Golden Eye award at the Zurich Film Festival, Bronze award at the Montreal Film Festival, and the Grand Prix at Festival du Monde Arab France.
Inspired by true events, Hamed’s second feature film Ibrahim Labyad, which featured a star-studded cast, grabbed the Egyptian audiences’ attention with its realistic portrayal of life in the slums and its abundance of violent details. The film was screened at the Montreal Film Festival, and the Sao Paolo International Film Festival.
In 2014, Marwan directed The Blue Elephant, which is a cinematic adaptation of Ahmed Mourad’s best-selling novel in 2012 of the same name. The novel was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2014.
The film was distributed in Jordan as well as the GCC states; the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. One of the highest grossing films in Egypt, The Blue Elephant was a successful blockbuster across the Egyptian theatres, reaping EGP 32 million in 45 days.
The Blue Elephant has stolen the scene at the 41st Egyptian Film Association Festival scooping a total of nine awards including the Best Director and the Best Film awards for Marwan Hamed.
Hamed is currently directing his upcoming project, which is still in the post-production phase, the feature film, The Originals.
Along with directing films and music videos, Marwan’s record boasts over 300 TV commercials for a selection of global brands such as Mercedes, Vodafone, Sprite, Etisalat, TE Data, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, and Mobinil.
In 2007, Hamed co-founded Lighthouse Films with Fadi Fahim and Karim Shaker. The Company produces TV commercials for the top multi-national advertising agencies, feature and short films and TV content.
