Maggie Morgan’s "The Memoirs of M. A. Draz" Wins Best Feature at Alexandria International Film Festival

Maggie Morgan’s documentary on one of Egypt’s most beloved Azharite icons "The Memoirs of M. A. Draz" won Best Feature at this year's Alexandria International Film Festival.

Standing out as both an archival and cultural gem, "The Memoirs of M. A. Draz" highlights an icon of Islamic history in Egypt — Azharite scholar Mohamed Abdallah Draz, who was noted for his progressive views that espoused tolerance and gender equality long before the rise of conventional feminism.

Decades after his death, Noha ElKholy uncovers letters, diaries, and photographs left behind by her great-grandfather. Through this archive, she embarks on a journey to illuminate M.A. Draz’s life story, from his humble beginnings in the village of Mahallat Diyay to his formative years in Alexandria and his scholarly pursuits in Paris.

"The Memoirs of M. A. Draz" held its world premiere at the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival, where it won both the Rashida Abdel Salam Award as well as the EU Prize for Best Euro-Mediterranean Film Addressing Women’s Issues. The film also screened as part of the Goethe Film Week at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, as well as the French Institutes in both Cairo and Alexandria.

It also held an impressive three-week long screening at Zawya Cinema, Cairo’s bustling art-house movie hotspot.

Directed by Maggie Morgan and written by Taghreed El Asfouri, the film was executive produced by Noha ElKholy, edited by Amgad Shafik and Tamer Abdallah, lensed by Emad Nabil, scored by Khaled Al-Kammar, and narrated by Sedki Sakhr. Meanwhile, MAD Distribution handles the film’s sales and distribution in the Arab World and MAD World handles its sales worldwide.

Maggie Morgan is an Egyptian filmmaker, festival curator, and film professor at the American University in Cairo. She previously directed the 2013 film "Asham", and produced "In the Last Days of the City". She also directed the film "From Meir, to Meir"; which won the Best Egyptian Film Award at the fourth Aswan International Film Festival, Special Jury Prize at the 23rd National Egyptian Film Festival, and Ahmed Bakri Award at the 38th Jerusalem International Film Festival.