Actor Mustafa Shehata on Playing a Role From His Director’s Childhood

After the Saudi film 'My Driver and I' (2024) premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival, it took home the Golden Palm award for Best Narrative Feature at the 11th Saudi Film Festival. The feature follows the tender relationship between a Sudanese driver, Qamar, and Salma—the determined young woman he drives—as she comes of age. Rising star Mustafa Shehata plays Qamar, who works for a Saudi family in Jeddah.

Within their bond lies shared struggles—Salma navigates complex family dynamics and an absent father, against the backdrop of Saudi’s restrictions on women, and Qamar misses the family he left behind in Sudan.

SceneNowSaudi spoke with Shehata about his role in the film, directed by renowned Saudi actress and filmmaker Ahd Kamel—a film that touches home.

The film, Shehata said, is a true story about the relationship between Kamel and her driver, Mohy El-Din. He was touched by the director’s personal connection to the plot before he even read the script.
This entire film was made for Mohy El-Din—for the driver who, at one point, was like a parent,” Shehata said.

“During some of the scenes, I saw Ahd standing far away, watching with tears in her eyes, and I also teared up,” he continued. “These scenes were not difficult in the performance itself, but they were difficult emotionally—I was relieving Ahd’s memories for her as she stood in front of me.”

He explained that they were filming in the same places where Kamel had lived those very scenes. Shehata felt a responsibility to Kamel to portray these moments accurately to her experience. He spoke to Sudanese drivers to gain insight into their lives and experiences working in Saudi. Kamel coached Shehata on the character he was based on, recalling specific details of the original Mohy El-Din to bring the story to life.

The cast filmed the entire feature in just 29 days, working every day except Fridays, from 5 a.m. until 7 p.m. Shehata loved working with the entire cast, especially Roula Dakheelallah, who played Salma.

At its core, Shehata shared, this film is a message about gratitude.

“Through ‘My Driver and I’, we can learn to appreciate others, to be grateful, and to return kindness to the people who do good things for us,” Shehata said. “The film taught me the value of saying ‘thank you’.”