Inside Assiut's Independent Film Scene

There’s a shift happening in Assiut's filmmaking industry, one brought about by the city’s storytellers who want to share their own narrative about their region with the rest of the country.

At its core is a drive among those artists to build a permanency where voices are reflected widely from Upper Egypt, instead of Cairo, where the film industry is centred, and to take their own stories, told by their people, beyond the boundaries they are currently confined by.

“While the city is full of young people who are passionate about cinema and the arts, there are almost no platforms for open discussion, freedom of expression, and cultural practices for youth,” said El Wekala Cultural Initiative co-founder Mostafa Ahmed Mostafa, a filmmaker and artist born and raised in Upper Egypt's largest city.

El Wekala launched in Assiut, in 2024. Founded by Mostafa and his coworkers, the goal behind it was to build safe and independent cultural spaces for people in a city where those were hard to find.

“We saw that gap and couldn’t ignore it,” Mostafa said. Mostafa fell in love with art during his university days, where he studied pharmacy. He would spend his days and nights coordinating cultural activities, working as a film programmer, moderating discussions and facilitating sessions related to the arts, and, in particular, cinema.

While doing all of that, he realised his heart belonged somewhere outside of his educational path — within the arts, and with those challenging the status quo of Upper Egypt, with a community of Upper Egyptians, from within.

“The industry’s attention is all in the capital, independent filmmakers from outside Cairo face a tough reality,” Mostafa added. They work without networks, funding, or platforms to showcase their films locally. Most films never reach the audiences they were made for.”

As an attempt to bridge that gap, El Wekala hosted its inaugural film forum this year. A showcase of independent films from Upper Egypt under the theme “Going Forth by Daylight” inspired by the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Films had to be made by filmmakers from Upper Egypt and be authentic, independent work.
“We chose films with strong voices, personal vision, and the power to spark conversation. Stories that reflect the region, challenge assumptions, or open new ways of seeing,” Mostafa explained.

Some of the movies highlighted included 'A Journey on Hold', directed by Bishoy Refaat and Arwa Mahmoud. It was featured in the Helsinki International Arab Film Festival and the Hurghada Short Film Festival and 'Searching for Shelter' which is from Assiut, directed by Peter Murad, and produced by ReMed and the Goethe Institute in 2024.

The film participated in several local and international film events and was an official selection at the Return International Film Festival in Palestine in 2025.

“Independent cinema here is alive, vital, and impossible to ignore," added Mostafa. "It deserves to be seen, discussed and celebrated.”