egyptian introspective family documentary 50 meters to screen at cairo’s zawya cinema on january 28th

Following its Arab World premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival — where it received a warm reception and resounding applause — Yomna Khattab’s introspective debut documentary, 50 METERS, exploring a father‑daughter relationship, is set to screen for Cairo audiences starting January 28th at Zawya Cinema in downtown Cairo.

The premiere on January 28th will be held with the attendance of the cast and crew, followed by an audience Q&A with director Yomna Khattab and producer Ahmed Amer, moderated by director Bassam Mortada.

This release is part of CineMAD, a pioneering three‑month pan‑Arab film season launched by Cairo‑based MAD Solutions to bring festival‑celebrated Arab films to cinemas across the region.

Set by a 50-meter training pool, Yomna, a first-time director, is struggling to make her film happen. She decides to turn her camera on her distant father and uses her developing film elements to approach him. Through writing fictional scenes and drafting voice-overs, Yomna succeeds in breaching her father’s shell and sharing with him her existential questions. By finally showing her vulnerability, Yomna is able to reconcile with her father and herself before moving forward with her life choices.

The film has already made an impressive mark on the international festival circuit; dollowing its World Premiere at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival in Denmark, it went on to resonate with audiences worldwide, screening at the Mostra de València – Cinema del Mediterrani Festival in Spain, the Oran International Arab Film Festival in Algeria, CINEMED – Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in France, the Middle East Now Film Festival in Italy, and El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, where it held its Arab World premiere.

An Egyptian-Danish-Saudi co-production, 50 METERS brings together several notable talents under Khattab’s helm, including award-winning composer Jonas Colstrup (THE GULLSPÅNG MIRACLE), editors Gladys Joujou (BYE BYE TIBERIAS) and Khaled Moeit (SOUAD), along with producers Ahmed Amer of A.A. Films and Patricia Drati of Good Company Pictures. Additionally, the film's international sales are handled by MAD World, while MAD Distribution is in charge of its MENA-wide distribution.

Yomna Khattab is a filmmaker based in Cairo. She originally acquired an MA in economics from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Yomna’s book of short stories, VIDEOTAPE FROM THE NINETIES, was published in 2015 by Dar El Shorouk. As a scriptwriter, her feature film ROKAYA' won Best Script From a Young Scriptwriter at the 2018 edition of the Sawiris Cultural Award.

She also wrote and produced the short film LET US PLAY YESTERDAY, which won the Film Prize Robert Bosch 2021 Development Fund and premiered at the International Short Film Competition of the sixth El Gouna Film Festival. Yomna’s main interest in her work is to explore the politics and economics affecting women’s choices, in addition to modern family dynamics in contemporary times.