The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced a retrospective devoted to hit-making Egyptian director Marwan Hamed as one of its Focus strands for the 2026 edition.
The focus on Hamed’s work will feature the European premiere of his upcoming Umm Kulthum biopic El Sett starring Mona Zaki (Flight 404) and Mohamed Farag (Voy!Voy!Voy!).
The highly-anticipated biopic will screen in Rotterdam’s Limelight strand aimed at arthouse, indie and world cinema titles with broad appeal.
Hamed has repeatedly set box office records in his home country. Most recently, his historical epic Kira & El Gin, which played in IFFR’s 2023 edition, became the biggest financial success in Egyptian cinema history at the time of its release, bringing post-pandemic audiences back to theatres in droves.
He made his directorial feature film debut in 2006 with The Yacoubian Building, adapted from Alaa Al Aswany’s seminal 2002 novel capturing evolutions in Egyptian society from the 1950s to the 1990s, directing from a screenplay adaptation written by his now late father Wahid Hame.
Since then, Hamed has made a number of blockbuster films, which have also garnered artistic recognition, such as the two instalment mystery thriller The Blue Elephant and The Blue Elephant 2; Egyptian underworld thriller Ibrahim Labyad and corruption drama Diamond Dust, based on the Arab noir novel by frequent collaborator Ahmed Mourad, and The Originals.
El Sett is the first major biopic devoted to late musical icon and actress Umm Kulthum, who is recognized as the most influential 20th Century singer from the Arab world.
Known as the “fourth pyramid” of Egypt, she led a life of epic proportions, her rise and significance inexorably tied to that of the nation as it rebuilt following the fall of British colonial rule.
“Marwan Hamed is the most fascinating director to emerge from Egypt’s ever-fertile film culture in the last quarter century. Spectacle is his mode of choice, subversive intelligence his speciality,” said IFFR Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic.
“Hamed knows how to entrance his audience with grand emotions, extraordinary sights and outstanding performances by his stars – just as he knows how to make people look critically at society and the nation’s history.”
The retrospective marks one of the first major festival focuses devoted to Hamed’s work in Europe.
“I’m very grateful to the festival for hosting the European premiere of El Sett and for showcasing my work, it is a great privilege. I would also like to thank the festival and all the artists I’ve worked with over the past years to achieve these films,” said the director.
The 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam will run from January 29 to February 8, 2026. The festival will announce its full lineup on December 16.
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