Marwan Hamid is a young Egyptian film director. He is the son of author Wahid Hamed. He graduated from the higher institution of cinema in 1999. Hamid has worked as a director assistant for the directors Samir Saif and Sherif Arafa.
Marwan directed in 2006 his feature debut (The Yacoubian Building) which is based on Alaa Al Aswani's celebrated novel of the same name. The movie dominated the Egyptian box office for the entire summer season of 2006, gaining more than $4 million in 15 countries.
Hamid in his coming words gives us briefs on some his movies and advice for the young filmmakers in his interview with Journalist and Film Critic Deborah Young. The interview came as a part of Arab Cinema Center's (ACC) meetings with Deborah.
How Do You Choose Your Scripts?
I like literary adaptations; the very first short film that I worked on while studying and my first feature film, The Yacoubian Building, were adaptations. If I find a good book with a well-written story and interesting characters that catch my attention, I would definitely work on that.
What About The Cast?
I like to cast actors/actresses in new roles which they are not expected to play. I was lucky to work with many big names and icons, especially in the beginning of my career, such as Adel Emam, Yousra, Nour El-Sherif, Khaled El-Sawi, Hind Sabri, Maged El Kedwany, Karim Abdel Aziz and Menna Shalaby.
The Originals
The Originals is written by Ahmed Mourad and it is about a fictional world that can happen anywhere.
The whole idea of the film is based on some intriguing questions; who are the others? Is there someone watching us? Who can reveal our secrets, phones, passwords, cameras, and what is in our phones?
Diamond Dust
What excited me the most about Diamond Dust was the father-son story. Taha, the son, discovers a whole new shocking side of his father; the thing that angers him in a way he didn’t expect and brings out his own dark side changing his life forever!
The Blue Elephant
Being friends with Ahmed Mourad gave me the chance to read The Blue Elephant book even before it got published. Since that time, I got my eyes on turning the book into a film. What caught my attention the most about the book was Yehia Rashid's character.
Usually, working on these films is a lot of fun, where we work on creating an imaginary world to turn a dream into a reality. However, the challenge with these films is the low budget that puts us in a tight schedule and a lot of work.
In part one, Khaled El-Sawi did an amazing job as the villain, which made it even more challenging for Hend Sabry to fill in his shoes for her role in Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers.
However, she handled the character in a perfectly professional way by doing a lot of preparation for the role; especially with Karim Abdel Aziz who appears with her in the same room in most of the film.
As for Nelly Karim’s role, in the first film, she played the supporting role of the romantic interest of the lead role. But, in the second one, she turned into an obstacle that he needs to overcome along with Hend Sabry.
How Is The Work With DOP/Cinematographer Ahmad Al Morsy?
Ahmad Al Morsy is a friend of mine whom I have worked and trained with before our first film, The Blue Elephant.
Ahmed Al Morsy and I have a lot in common; we both like to do a lot of preparation before we start shooting. We understand that every film has its own kind of preparation; however, we put a lot of plans and efforts to have the best results.
Ahmed Al Morsy is capable of finding smart and rapid solutions for every situation. For example, he once shot a scene in The Blue Elephant using the flashlight of an iPhone device. We like to explore and experiment as we work together.
Ibrahim Labyad
Ibrahim Labyad needed a rough wilderness area for shooting, so we found a spot nearby El Mukkatam, where we shot 10% of the film and the rest was shot in a studio we built later on.
What Is Your Advice For Upcoming Directors Boost Their Filmmaking Career?
The more I work, the more I realize that it is not easy to reach and capture the audience’s attention. However, there are many opportunities now that weren’t available when I started my career.
For example the films’ libraries and resources that can be found easily by using the internet. Moreover, nowadays you can shoot a whole film using a cell phone; there are many ways to educate oneself.
Kira & El Gin
Kira & El Gin that is based on Ahmed Mourad’s novel 1919. We only shot for one week. The film takes us back 100 years ago in Egypt as we follow the resistance against the English occupation. The film is 80% in Arabic and 20% in English.
However, it is not only about the resistance, but we also have a look at the society and its people at that time. The film focuses on historical figures that may be forgotten. We will resume shooting next month.
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