Mena Massoud Marks His Arrival to Egypt: “It’s been too long”

Egyptian-Canadian actor, Mena Massoud arrived in Cairo to participate in the third edition of El-Gouna Film Festival (GFF), which kicks off within hours.

The 28-year-old actor took to Instagram to mark his arrival saying: “Made it back to one of the most beautiful cities in the world - Cairo! It’s been too long...”

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During his visit to the country, he was appointed as an ambassador for “Speak Egyptian” initiative, launched by Egypt’s Immigration Ministry to maintain the national identity.

Egypt’s Immigration Minister Nabila Makram met with the actor, during which she expressed her pride for his success and his adhesion to his mother language, Arabic.

“Art is one of Egypt’s soft power elements, therefore Massoud’s success abroad is a success for Egypt,” she added.

He had also met with the granddaughter of prominent Egyptian actor, Adel Emam, Sarah.

Adel’s older son, director Ramy Emam posted a photo on Instagram from the meeting.

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Massoud is an actor of Egyptian origin, born on September 17, 1991, in Cairo to Egyptian parents before traveling to Canada.

He co-starred recently as Aladdin in the live-action of Disney’s 1992 animated film “Aladdin”.

The 28-year-old actor launched his career as a professional actor in 2011 when he appeared briefly in episodes of the television series “Nikita” and “Combat Hospital”.

He also starred as Jared Malik in the 2015 series “Open Heart”, and Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime series “Jack Ryan”.

Noteworthy, the festival was established on September 22, 2017, to underscore the role cinema plays in promoting cultural interaction and to highlight the awareness of different cinematic voices through encouraging dialogue and by building bridges of creative intellect.

Over the past editions of the festival, many global celebrities and film industry experts had participated in the festival including Hollywood legend, Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe award winner Sylvester Stallone, Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, American actor, scriptwriter, and producer Owen Wilson, and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ heartthrob Patrick Dempsey.

This year’s edition will run from September 19 to 27, at El Gouna Resort-town in Red Sea governorate.