Egyptian-Welsh Filmmaker Sally El Hosaini Wins TIFF Award

The annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Tribute Awards, set to take place on September 11th, will honour Egyptian-Welsh filmmaker and screenwriter Sally El Hosaini with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award.

El Hosaini’s latest production, ‘The Swimmers’, will be the opening film of this year’s TIFF. The film is a feature-length drama inspired by Syrian refugee sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini, who fled war-torn Syria and participated in the Rio 2016 Olympics. The cast features Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek, Syrian actress Kina Alloush and Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, with the sister duo played by Lebanese sisters Nathalie and Manal Eissa.

The award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter's debut feature film ‘My Brother the Devil’ has participated in more than forty international festivals, world premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and won the best European Film award at Berlin International Film Festival and Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival.