75East Signs Egyptian ‘Voy! Voy! Voy!’ Director Omar Hilal – Red Sea Film Festival
EXCLUSIVE: Dubai-based global management and production company 75East has signed Egyptian writer, director and producer Omar Hilal, director of feel-good drama comedy Voy! Voy! Voy!, which was Egypt’s 2023 Oscar submission.
The picture, which is Hilal’s first feature, is inspired by the true story of a man who fakes blindness to join a team of visually impaired footballers bound for Poland to fulfil his dream of escaping Egypt to live in Europe.
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75East Principal and Talent Manager Antone Saliba announced the signing at the Red Sea Film Festival, where he is attending the Red Sea Souk market and joined FilmNation CEO Glen Basner and MBC Studios General Manager Zeinab Abul Al Samh among others on an industry panel this week.
Voy, Voy, Voy! was Hilal’s first feature after a 20-year career as one of the preeminent advertising directors of the Arab world.
After topping the Egyptian box office for two months and gaining critical and box-office success in its Gulf and wider MENA release, the feature made its international premiere in Rotterdam’s Limelight Section in 2023.
That screening marked the start of a successful international festival career for the movie, which won 15 international awards along the way.
Voy! Voy! Voy! was produced by Mohamed Hefzy’s Cairo-based Film Clinic in co-production with Image Nation and Vox Cinemas. It features Egyptian stars Muhammad Farrag, Nelly Karim, Bayoumi Fouad in the cast.
Launched in 2023, 75East has established itself as a global talent management and production company focused on representing the most exciting filmmaking talent from the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region and diaspora.
Its growing roster of filmmakers include BAFTA-winner and Oscar-nominee Bassel Ghandour (Theeb, The Alleys), Palme d’Or-nominee Abu Bakr Shawky (Yomeddine, Hajjan), Gotham Best Breakthrough Director nominee Mahdi Fleifel (To A Land Unknown); Amjad Al Rasheed (Inshallah A Boy); Firas Khoury (Alam, Maradona’s Legs); Faris Alrjoob (The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry); Nay Tabbara (Ebb & Flow); Karim Shaaban (6 Days); Yassmina Karajah (Rupture), and Mayar Al Nouri, creator and director of Amazon Prime Original series Self Modulation (Tarteeb Khass).
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