A.B. Shawky Courtesy of Variety
It's been a big week for alumnus A.B. Shawky! His thesis film, Yomeddine, was selected as the official Egyptian entry for foreign language film at the Academy Awards. Shortly following this, Yomeddine was picked up by Strand Releasing, which will distribute the film in North American theaters in early 2019.
To top it all off, today Variety announced that Shawky will receive their MENA Talent of the Year Award. He will receive the award at the El Gouna Film Festival, where Yomeddine will have it's Middle Eastern premiere, and which runs from September 20-28.
Yomeddine, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, follows a middle-aged man raised in a leper colony who embarks with a sidekick and a donkey on a journey across Egypt to try to reconnect with his family. At Cannes, it won the Francois Chalais Prize.
Read more at Variety