Marwan Hamed (credit: Reuters Pictures)

Marwan Hamed is a young Egyptian filmmaker best known for his unflinching portrayal of private lives in modern-day Egypt. Hamed was born in Cairo in 1977 to a Muslim Egyptian family. His father, screenwriter Wahid Hamed, remains a prominent figure in Egyptian filmmaking, best known for his controversial screenplays addressing terrorism, corruption, impotence, and national unity. After first working in commercials, Marwan Hamed directed several short films such as Au Bout du Monde (1998), Cheik Cheikha (1999), and Lily (2001), for which he won the public prize at the Clermont-Ferrand short film festival in 2001.

Imarat Ya’qubian ("The Yacoubian Building") is considered Hamed’s most important film yet; it has become one of the most popular and most debated films in the history of Egypt, with critics, politicians, and ordinary people joining in the discussion. Members of the Egyptian parliament, most notably Mustafa Bakri, have led a censorship campaign against the film, arguing that it defames Egypt by portraying homosexuality, terrorism, and corruption. In fact, the film’s criticism of government corruption is so overwhelming that it has been discussed in the nation’s parliament. Throughout such controversies, Hamed has maintained that painful problems should be discussed openly by the public; only when individuals no longer deny the existence of corruption and strife will they then find solutions to those same social ills.

(Bio courtesy of encyclopedia.jrank.org)