Hesham Issawi ( ar, هشام عيسوي) is an

Egyptian American Egyptian Americans are Americans of partial or full Egyptian ancestry. The 2016 US Census estimated the number of people with Egyptian ancestry at 256,000. Most of whom are from Egypt's Christian Coptic minority.Estimates for the number of Cop ...

writer and director. He is best known for his work on the films ''

AmericanEast ''AmericanEast'' is a 2008 American drama film about Arab-Americans living in Los Angeles after the September 11 attacks. The story examines long-held misunderstandings about Arabic and Islamic culture by focusing on the points-of-view of three m ...

'' and '' Cairo Exit''.

Life and career

Hesham was born in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1990. He attended film school,

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

and Graduated in 1996. He began his career working in 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'', won best creative short film in New York Film Festival and best music score in California Film Festival. In 2005, he co-wrote and directed the short film, ''T for Terrorist'', won best short film in both Boston and San Francisco Film Festivals. Hesham's debut feature film, ''

'', about the plight of Middle Eastern people in America post 9/11, starring

Sayed Badreya El Sayed Badreya ( ar, سيد بدرية) is an Egyptian-American actor. He was born on February 4, 1957, in Port Said, Egypt. He has had many roles in movies and television. He appeared in '' AmericanEast'', '' Iron Man'', ''Cargo Carg ...

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA Net ...

and

Sarah Shahi Aahoo Jahansouzshahi ( fa, آهو جهانسوز شاهی; born ), known professionally as Sarah Shahi (), is an American actress and former model. She played Carmen on ''The L Word'' in 2005, Kate Reed in the USA Network legal drama ''Fairly Leg ...

.The movie was screened in

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announce ...

and won best picture in Madrid Film Festival, 2008. Hesham lives 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

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

and many other festivals. The film won one future prize at the

Filmfest München The Munich International Film Festival (german: Filmfest München) is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/earl ...

. The film won prizes in

and EuropeanIndependent film festival. In 2015, he finished his latest film, ''the Price'', screened at the

Cairo International Film Festival The Cairo International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year sin ...

and was released in Egyptian Theater later.

Filmography

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Issawi, Hesham Living people Egyptian film directors Year of birth missing (living people)