Ahmed Hafez set to transform Arab filmmaking ecosystem with Story Studio, a one-stop post-production shop that will also serve as a collaborative mentoring facility for emerging storytelling artists and artisans.
For more than two decades now, Ahmed Hafez has been the unsung hero behind many of the landmarks of Egyptian cinematic storytelling. His editing prowess is evident across an impressive array of Arab and English-language works, including international blockbuster hits such as Marvel’s "Moon Knight," the multiple award-winning festival favorite "Inshallah A Boy," and local favorites such as "The Blue Elephant" and the upcoming sequel to "Hepta: The Last Lecture".
On Thursday, Ahmed Hafez is applying those signature talents to an ambitious new venture that will transform the Arab filmmaking ecosystem. With the launch of new venture Story Studio, Hafez is creating a highly advanced, all-encompassing post-production company in Cairo that will serve as a hub to help elevate aspiring creators and help them fully realize their storytelling visions without having to look far outside Egypt and its neighboring countries.
Story Studio emerges as a direct response to a gap Hafez has observed throughout his career as a film editor. The vision is to provide a single, state-of-the-art destination where filmmakers can access a complete suite of high-end post-production services without compromising on technical quality or creative ambition.
The company’s offerings are meticulously crafted to meet international benchmarks, with multiple 4K editing across multiple team-equipped suites, HDR color grading, theatrical-ready sound mixing with Dolby Atmos—a rare feature in Egypt—and visual effects.
Story Studio is already putting Hafez’s transformative philosophy into practice. Its color grading suite, helmed in collaboration with an Italian colorist, is currently finishing "Hepta: Part Two", ensuring the film looks and sounds as grand as its cinematic ambition.
The upcoming slate of projects set to be crafted under the Story Studio banner already includes a glittering array of anticipated titles, among them the El Gouna Film Festival opener and Tribeca Film Festival triple-award winner "Happy Birthday," starring Nelly Karim (Clash). Also in the lineup is Mohamed Siam’s "My Father’s Scent," starring Ahmed Malek (The Furnace, Six Days), which earned five awards at last year’s Final Cut in Venice.
Other notable titles include Marwan Hamed’s highly anticipated biopic "El Sett," centered on Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum and starring Mona Zaki alongside a cast of A-listers; Hepta2: The Last Debate by Hadi El Bagoury, a fresh take on modern love that builds on the legacy of the 2016 blockbuster Hepta: The Last Lecture; and the upcoming epic historical film Assad, by Moon Knight’s Mohamed Diab and led by Mohamed Ramadan, surrounded by a powerhouse supporting cast that includes both Razane Jammal and Khaled El Sawy. Many more exciting projects are already in the pipeline, too.
Story Studio is not intended solely as a home for Ahmed Hafez’s own illustrious projects. Core to the company’s creation is a mission to become a collaborative hub for up-and-coming talents, a place where emerging editors, colorists, and sound designers can work alongside established professionals, accessing technology and mentorship previously out of reach. Story Studio is conceived as a vital launchpad, ensuring that the next generation of storytellers has the necessary tools and support to refine their voice and craft world-class content.
It’s a full-circle moment for an editor who built his career by elevating the visions of others. With the Studio, Ahmed Hafez is no longer just shaping narratives; he is building the very environment where the next great Egyptian stories will be told, polished, and shared with the world, one awe-inspiring frame at a time.
Ahmed Hafez is a renowned Egyptian film editor whose career spans over two decades and more than 50 impressive titles to his name, marked by a dynamic blend of commercial success and critical acclaim. A member of both the American Cinema Editors Society and the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Hafez has shaped some of the most iconic works in contemporary Arab cinema.
His editing credits include box-office giants such as "The Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers" and "Kira & El Gin"—two of the highest-grossing films in Egyptian history at the time of their release—as well as festival favorites like "Inshallah A Boy," the first Jordanian film to premiere at Cannes, where it won the Gan Foundation and Rail D’Or awards, was selected as Jordan’s official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy Awards, screened at over 30 prestigious festivals worldwide and won around 14 awards.
Also on his resume is Mohamed Diab’s "Clash", which premiered in the 69th Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard and earned him three awards from the Carthage Film Festival, Cairo Film Society Festival, and Egyptian National Film Festival, as well as Egypt’s 96th Academy Awards submission "Voy! Voy! Voy!", and Amr Salama’s short film "60 Pounds," which opened the sixth El Gouna Film Festival, making history as the first short film ever to open an Arab film festival.
His television work is equally distinguished, with standout contributions to Marvel’s Moon Knight for Disney+ (episodes three and four); the Ramadan hit Taht El Wesaya starring Mona Zaki; Grand Hotel; La Tottfe' Al Shams; Every Week Has A Friday; and Netflix’s first Egyptian original series, Paranormal, as well as the mini-series Safah El Giza on Shahid.
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