Abu Bakr Shawky

  • Abu Bakr Shawky
© Timothy KALDAS
Film director, Producer, Screenwriter, Editor
(Male)
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv

Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker

He is sometimes credited as
A.B. Shawky


A.B. Shawky is an Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker based in Cairo and New York. Past projects include Hulu's The Looming Tower where he worked as a Writers' Assistant and Arabic Consultant. He is the first Egyptian director to go to Cannes with a first feature [Yomeddine, 2018]. He is also an avid soccer fan who always supports the underdog, and is rarely impressed.

Abu Bakr SHAWKY is an Egyptian-Austrian screenwriter, director and editor. He is the founder of Desert Highway Pictures, the production company for Yomeddine [2018]. His award-winning films The Colony, Martyr Friday and Things I Heard on Wednesdays have been screened at festivals around the world. His commercials have been shortlisted and awarded at the American Independent Commercial Producers Awards and Porsche Awards in Germany.

Shawky's short film The Road to Atalia, a look into Egypt's thriving business of illegal migration, was produced by the International Organization for Migration in 2010 and featured renowned Egyptian actor Amr Waked.

As a speaker, Shawky has participated in the European Forum Alpbach and Prague's Forum 2000, where he was a panelist on media and human rights in post-revolutionary Egypt.


He holds a BA in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, a BA in Film Directing from Cairo's High Institute of Cinema, and an MFA in Filmmaking from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

His feature debute Yomeddine (2018) was selected in Official Competition at Cannes Festival 2018.

education
New York University | Tisch School of the Arts: MFA, Film Production
​American University in Cairo: BA, Political Science
Higher Institute of Cinema | Egypt: BFA, Directing

filmography

Yomeddine (2018) | fiction feature | writer/director
​ Cannes Film Festival - world premiere

Things I Heard on Wednesdays (2012) | documentary short | writer/director
Palm Springs International Film Festival
New York Film Festival
Krakow Film Festival
European Independent Film Festival

Martyr Friday (2011) | fiction short | writer/director
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Raindance Film Festival
American International Film Festival
Manhattan Short Fest
Al Jazeera Documentary Film Festival
Skepto Film Festival
Angelus Film Festival

The Colony (2008) | documentary short | writer/director
Cairo National Film Festival: Best Short Documentary​​​​
Las Vegas International Film Festival: ​Golden Ace Award​
Houston International FIlm Festival: Bronze Remi Award
Ismailia International Film Festival: Best Arab Documentary Award​ and Jury Award
Port Said Film Festival: Silver Award
Rencontres de L'image Festival
Alexandria International Film Festival
Rotterdam Arab Film Festival
London Young Film Festival
Arabische Filmnächte Winterthur
The Art Factory Tokyo


Source:
* https://www.tfiny.org/filmmakers/detail/abu_bakr_shawky (Tribeca Film Institute)
* https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1178320116/yomeddine?lang=fr
* https://www.deserthighwaypictures.com/a-b-shawky

Organizations

1 files

Articles

10 files

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

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