'Safe Exit' Joins El Gouna Film Festival Narrative Competition

Egyptian film 'Safe Exit', directed by Mohammed Hammad, is the only Egyptian title competing in the Narrative Films Competition at the 9th edition of El Gouna Film Festival. The psychological drama previously made its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival in February before screening at the Shanghai International Film Festival, and was also shortlisted for Best Screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

The film follows Samaan, a young Coptic Christian working night shifts as a security guard in a residential building in Downtown Cairo. He spends his nights writing and dreaming of publishing his first novel while living with chronic PTSD after witnessing his father’s murder by religious extremists in Libya during childhood. His routine begins to shift after he meets Fatimah, a young Muslim woman, and an unexpected friendship gradually breaks through the isolation he has built around his trauma.

'Safe Exit' stars Marwan Waleed, Noha Foad and Hazem Essam, and is produced by Kholoud Saad alongside co-producers from across the region. The film marks Hammad’s second feature following 'Withered Green', which screened at the Locarno Film Festival and won him Best Director at the Dubai International Film Festival.