The official trailer and release date for prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed's Umm Kulthum biopic "El Set" have been revealed.
The biopic features Egyptian star Mona Zaki playing the vocalist born in the Nile delta village of Tamay al‐Zahirah, who from the late 1920s onwards became the first Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema, and television.
The biopic brings together an ensemble of standout talents including Mohamed Farag, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, Tamer Nabil, and Sayed Ragab.
"El Set" also features a slew of guest stars, including Ahmed Helmy, Amr Saad, Karim Abdel Aziz, Nelly Karim, Asser Yassin, and Amina Khalil.
Marwan Hamed directs the project from a script by Ahmed Mourad.
“El Set” is co-produced by Egypt’s Synergy Films, Film Square, and Film Clinic, and by Saudi Arabian film fund Big Time Investment.
It is the first major biopic devoted to the late musical icon who is recognized as the most influential 20th Century singer from the Arab world.
Born on December 31, 1898, Umm Kulthum has no equivalent among singers in the world and represented the soul of the pan-Arab world for decades.
Known as the “fourth pyramid” of Egypt, she led a life of epic proportions, her rise and significance inexorably tied to that of the nation as it rebuilt following the fall of British colonial rule.
In the process, Kulthum recorded some 300 songs over a 60-year career, while conquering millions of fans and disrupting gender norms with her powerful, often politically charged, music.
Her potent contralto, which could blur gender in its lower register, conveyed breathtaking emotional range in complex songs that, across theme and wildly ornamented variations, could easily last an hour.
She has been praised by Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, among other Western artists, and sampled by Shakira and Beyoncé.
Her death on February 3, 1975, brought millions into the Cairo streets to mourn, and while her influence among Arab singers is incalculable, it extended far beyond it.
"El Set" hits theaters across Egypt on December 11 and will have its world premiere at the 2025 Marrakech International Film Festival.
Watch the trailer for "El Set" below.
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