| Hesham Issawi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Egypt |
| Occupation(s) | Director, writer and producer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Hesham Issawi (Arabic: هشام عيسوي) is an Egyptian American writer and director. He is best known for his work on the films AmericanEast and Cairo Exit.
Life and career
Hesham was born in Egypt, and moved to the United States in 1990. He attended film school, Columbia College Chicago, and graduated in 1996. He began his career working at a local TV station as an editor and in the documentary world before directing a few short subjects of his own. He wrote and directed the 2004 short film, The Interrogation, which won best creative short film at the New York Film Festival and best music score at the California Film Festival. In 2005, he co-wrote and directed the short film, T for Terrorist, which won best short film at both the Boston and San Francisco Film Festivals.
Hesham's debut feature film, AmericanEast, about the plight of Middle Eastern people in America after 9/11, starred Sayed Badreya, Tony Shalhoub and Sarah Shahi. The movie was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival and won best picture at the Madrid Film Festival, 2008.
Hesham has lived between Cairo and Los Angeles since 2010. Believing in independent cinema, he decided to make Cairo Exit in his homeland. The movie was shot in Cairo with no permits due to the censorship rejecting the script. The film was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and many other festivals. The film won one future prize at the Filmfest München. It won prizes at Filmfest München and the European Independent film festival.
In 2015, he finished his latest film, The Price, which was screened at the Cairo International Film Festival and was released in Egyptian theater later.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Writer | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Saving the Sphinx |  N
|
N
|
 Y
|
|
| 2003 | Saving Egyptian Film Classics | Y
|
N
|
N
|
|
| 2004 | The Interrogation | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Short film |
| 2005 | T for Terrorist | Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
Short film |
| 2005 | Mush | N
|
N
|
Y
|
Short film |
| 2008 | AmericanEast | Y
|
Y
|
N
|
|
| 2010 | Cairo Exit | Y
|
Y
|
N
|
|
| 2014 | Brother in Terror Documentary | N
|
N
|
Y
|
|
| 2015 | The Price | N
|
Y
|
N
|
|
| 2019 | High Fences | Y
|
Y
|
N
|
Post-production |
As editor
- 2003 - The Mole
- 2003 - Saving Egyptian Film Classics
- 2004 - The Interrogation
- 2005 - T for Terrorist
- 2005 - Voices of Iraq
- 2006 - Things You Don't Tell...
References
- "Meet the 2011 Tribeca Filmmakers - "Cairo Exit" Director Hesham Issawi". indiewire.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "Hesham Issawi". torinofilmlab.it. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "Director goes off Egypt's script". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "AmericanEast". variety.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "HESHAM ISSAWI: CAIRO EXIT". tribecafilm.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "Hesham Issawi". spla.pro. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ""AmericanEast" Comes to DC". wrmea.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "Previously banned tale of forbidden love may now be shown in Egypt". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "Diff makes pride of place for Cairo Exit". thenational.ae. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "AWARDS & WINNERS". filmfest-muenchen.de. Archived from the original on 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "The European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU) April 1, 2 and 3 in Paris". theblondecherie.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- "El Teman The Price". berlinale-talents.de. Retrieved 2019-08-01.