Karim Elshenawy

Source: Ahmed Haymen

Karim Elshenawy

Egyptian filmmaker Karim Elshenawy aimed to combine Arab folk storytelling with a touch of Disney fantasy in The Tale Of Daye’s Family, which opens the fourth Red Sea International Film Festival.

“It resembles those classic black-and-white Egyptian films that touched hearts and souls,” says the Cairo-based director and producer of his second feature, which receives its world premiere here in Jeddah.

The story follows Daye, a 14-yearold Nubian albino with a remarkable voice who dreams of following in the footsteps of his singing idol Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for reality show The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous journey from Aswan to Cairo.

The opportunity to screen the film in a prestigious slot at RSIFF means audiences will get an earlier look at the feature than was originally intended.

“The plan was to release the film in 2025, but we were honoured by the offer to open the festival,” says Elshenawy. “It will help introduce the film to an audience in the MENA region, as well as other festivals and distributors.”

The screenplay was written by Haitham Dabbour, his second collaboration with Elshenawy after the director’s 2018 feature debut Gunshot, which premiered at El Gouna. Development began five years ago, during which time Elshenawy directed Egyptian TV series including Seventh Year Itch (2023) and Take Care Of Zizi (2021).

“I like a challenge and I dislike formulaic films,” says the director. “This project presented the experience I was looking for to return to filmmaking.”

The feature is an Egypt-Saudi Arabia co-production between Elshenawy’s Blueprint Productions, Synergy Films, Film Square Production, Misr International Films, Red Star Films and Riyadh-based CineWaves Films.

The cast is led by Egyptian actor Badr Mohamed as Daye, Saudi actress Aseel Omran, Sudanese actress Islam Mubarak and Nubian actress Haneen Said.

The shoot took place across 50 locations in six Egyptian governorates spanning the south to the north of Egypt, between Aswan and Cairo. “Filming lasted for more than a year and was exhausting,” says Elshenawy. “I aimed to create a film that strikes a balance between being artistic and accessible to the general audience.”

A theatrical release is set for 2025 after a planned tour of further festivals.