Marwan HAMED is an Egyptian filmmaker, born in Cairo, with over 25 years of experience in cinema. He began his career with the short film LILLY (2001), which won several international awards, including the Grand Prix du Public in Clermont-Ferrand and the Golden Tanit in Carthage. In 2006, he directed his first feature film, THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING, one of the biggest productions in Egyptian cinema, starring Adel Imam and Yousra. The film was screened at major festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, London, Chicago and Marrakech, and won several awards, such as Best New Director at Tribeca and the Golden Eye at Zurich. He followed with IBRAHIM LABYAD (2009), showcased at Montreal and São Paulo festivals. In 2014, he directed THE BLUE ELEPHANT, adapted from Ahmed Mourad’s bestselling novel, which became both a critical and commercial success, winning nine awards from the Egyptian Film Society, the Grand Nile Prize at Luxor and the Jury Award in Brussels. He then directed THE ORIGINALS (2017), winner of Best Director at Fantasporto, followed by DIAMOND DUST (2018), which won the Grand Prize at the Casablanca Arab Film Festival. In 2019, he released THE BLUE ELEPHANT 2, which broke box office records and won over 30 awards from Arab and Egyptian institutions. In 2022, he presented KIRA & EL GIN, the biggest Egyptian and Arab production to date, topping the box office and winning 10 Egyptian Film Society Awards and three Joy Awards. Hamed received the Creative Achievement Award at the 6th El Gouna Film Festival, where he was appointed to the advisory board. Most recently, he completed shooting his upcoming film EL SETT (2025), a biopic about the legendary singer Umm Kulthum, which was selected at IFFR.