aisha can’t fly away screens successfully at germany’s filmfest hamburg

Directed by Morad Mostafa, the Cannes premiering Egyptian film AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY held a fully-booked screening at Filmfest Hamburg that culminated with an engaging Q&A with the film’s director, producer Sawsan Youssef, and co-producers and founders of Mayana Film May Odeh and Zorana Musikic.

Premiering at the 78th Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY has since went on to screen worldwide, including at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa; the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia, where it won a FIPRESCI Award; the Festival Villa del Cine in Colombia; and both the Festival De Filmes Incríveis São Paulo — where it won the top prize — as well as the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival in Brazil.

The film follows Aisha, a 26-year-old Sudanese caregiver living in a neighbourhood in the heart of Cairo, where she witnesses the tension between her fellow African migrants and other groups. Unwittingly, she becomes involved with an Egyptian gang that blackmails her into stealing her patients’ keys so that they can rob them.

Produced through Yusuf’s Bonanza Films, the film is a co-production involving Dora Bouchoucha and Lina Chaaban of Tunisia’s Nomadis Images, Sherif Fathy of Shift Studios, Ahmed Amer of A.A. Films, Faisal Baltayour from Cinewaves, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab of MAD Solutions — the subsidiary of which, MAD World, is handling the film’s world sales — May Odeh and Zorana Musikic of Mayana Films, Laura Nikolov of Coorigins, Abellelah Al Ahmary of Arabia Pictures, as well as executive producer Amjad Abu Alala.

AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY boasts a stellar cast, with Buliana Simon taking on the lead role of Aisha alongside Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza in his first outing in a feature-length project, Emad Ghoniem, and Mamdouh Saleh.

The creative team behind AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY includes cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef, who also worked on Morad Mostafa’s I PROMISE YOU PARADISE and last year’s Cannes entry THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE; art director Eman Elelaby, who earned a FIPRESCI Prize for her work on FEATHERS; costume designer Nayera Eldahshoury; and editor Mohamed Mamdouh.

Previously, the film received funding and support from the Red Sea Lodge, Doha Film Institute, AFAC Film Fund, Cultural Resource (Mawred), Cinéfondation, La Fabrique Cinema of Cannes, Cinemed Montpellier, Locarno Academy, and El Gouna Film Festival.

Starting off as an assistant director in the film industry, Morad Mostafa s has since excelled in the field for over ten years to become an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, Durban Talents, Locarno Academy, and theCannes Cinéfondation.

In 2023, he was named by Screen Daily as one of its Arab Stars of Tomorrow — an initiative honoring the most prominent emerging Arab talents. The previous year, he was included in the Arab Cinema Center’s list of 100 Most Significant Cinematic Figures in the Middle East. He also has participated in numerous international juries, most recently at the Cairo International Film Festival.

Mostafa has written and directed four acclaimed short films– HENET WARD, WHAT WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT MARIAM, KHADIGA, and I PROMISE YOU PARADISE– all of which have been selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and have screened at over 500 festivals worldwide, winning around 200 local and international awards.

His short film, ‏I PROMISE YOU PARADISE, was selected for the 76th Cannes Film Festival’s Critics' Week, where it won the Rail d'Or. It also screened at the 76th Locarno International Film Festival, BFI London, among many other international festivals, and officially made it to the shortlist for the César Awards.

AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY, won the Final Cut Award at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and had a glittering world premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard, becoming the first Egyptian film to do so in almost a decade.