egypt’s safe exit to screen 7 times at berlinale

Mohammed Hammad’s SAFE EXIT, Egypt’s second film at the Berlinale in as many years, is slated to screen a whopping seven times at the 76th edition of the German festival as part of its Panorama Program, highlighting its artistry and the global resonance of its themes.

SAFE EXIT will screen at 9:30 pm on Saturday, February 14th at Urania; 10 am on Sunday, February 15th at Cubix 9; 7 pm on Monday, February 16th at Cubix 7; 2 pm Tuesday, February 17th simultaneously at CinemaxX 5 and CinemaxX 6; 10 pm on Friday, February 20th at Zoo Palast 2; and 12:35 pm on Saturday, February 21st at Cubix 9.

A multi-national co-production between Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Qatar, and Germany, SAFE EXIT follows Samaan, a young security guard from a generation shaped by religious and ethnic violence in the Arab region. Now in his early twenties, he carries the weight of inherited trauma — a quiet, lingering aftermath that refuses to disappear.

The film continues Hammad’s mission with Pareidolia Productions to create independent cinema that interrogates complex social issues rarely confronted in Egyptian film, examining how belief systems can be distorted into justifying violence and how that violence reverberates across generations.

Producers describe the film as an exploration of unresolved collective trauma tied to religious identity, and as a portrait of what remains long after public attention has moved on. The project approaches trauma not as spectacle but as something lived, intimate, and deeply personal.

For MAD World, acquiring the film followed the international success of Hammad’s WITHERED GREEN. The company points to his strong command of tone, performance, and atmosphere, as well as the film’s highly accomplished creative team, as key reasons for backing its path to Berlin and beyond.

Written, directed, and produced by Mohammed Hammad, SAFE EXIT is produced by Kholoud Saad (WITHERED GREEN) and co-produced by Dina Farouk (DAUGHTERS OF ABDULRAHMAN), Dora Bouchoucha (AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY), and Ibrahim El Batout (ALI, THE GOAT AND IBRAHIM) under the banners of Pareidolia Productions, Nomadis Images, and Wika Productions.

The film stars Marwan Waleed, Noha Foad, and Hazem Essam, with cinematography by Mohammed El Sharqawy, editing by Farouk, score by Ahmad Nazmy, and sound design by Ahmad Tawel.

SAFE EXIT is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Distribution, with MAD World handling international sales.

Mohammed Hammad is an Egyptian writer-director known for formally assured, socially incisive cinema. A graduate of Helwan University in mass communication, he began with the short THE FIFTH POUND (2006) before moving between fiction and documentary.

His feature debut WITHERED GREEN premiered at Locarno, earning multiple nominations including for the Golden Leopard, and went on to win Best Director (Muhr Award) at Dubai IFF, Golden Palm at the First Youth Film Festival, and Best Director for a First Work at the Cairo National Film Festival.