EXCLUSIVE: Dubai-based global management and production company 75East has signed Egyptian director Karim Shaaban, who is currently in production on his new feature 6 Days in Cairo.
He is the latest signing in a growing roster of talent on the 75East books since its launch last December with a focus on SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa), alongside the likes of Jordanian Oscar-nominee Bassel Ghandour (Theeb) and Egyptian Palme d’Or-nominee Abu Bakr Shawky (Yomeddine).
Shaaban most recently directed the short film I Don’t Care if the World Collapses, starring Egyptian superstar Salma Abu Deif as an ambitious advertizing producer whose path crosses an actor excited about landing his first role in a commercials shoot.
The short premiered this year at the Cleveland International Film Festival, followed by a US Oscar-qualifying festival tour including Palm Springs International ShortFest and Nashville Film Festival. The film was self-produced, written by Wael Hamdy, and shot by Beshoy Rosefelt.
New feature 6 Days sees Shaaban direct rising Egyptian stars Ahmed Malek and Aya Samaha as two former high school sweethearts, whose chance reunion years later tests whether love can survive the passage of time.
Malek’s many credits include Netflix Original The Swimmers, Egyptian hit Sheikh Jackson, and Mohamed Diab’s Clash. Samaha is best known for her roles in hit Egyptian Netflix series Paranormal and Shahid shows El Soffara and Omar Effendi. 6 Days is produced by Ahmed Fahmy’s Sea Cinema Productions.
Cairo-based Shaaban has established himself as one of the most sought-after advertising directors in the Arab world over the past decade, and he continues to work across film, commercials, music videos, and photography.
Early cinema works include short film Nightshift (2020), which world premiered at Cleveland International Film Festival and went viral on YouTube, racking up more than 700,000 views to date.
Further talents represented by 75East include Mahdi Fleifel (To A Land Unknown); Amjad Al Rasheed (Inshallah A Boy); Firas Khoury (Alam, Maradona’s Legs); Faris Alrjoob (The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry); Nay Tabbara (Ebb & Flow); Yassmina Karajah (Rupture), and Mayar Al Nouri, creator and director of Self Modulation (Tarteeb Khass), a new Arabic-language Amazon Originals limited series.
