Inside the Talks & Roundtables at Manassat Film Festival 2026

Alongside film screenings and workshops across Downtown Cairo, Manassat Film Festival brings together directors, producers, performers and cultural practitioners for a series of roundtable discussions and public talks, each exploring a different facet of creative storytelling while opening space for dialogue, learning and the exchange of ideas.

Here’s a closer look at the conversations shaping this year’s Manassat Film Festival...

Table Read: Sleepless Nights

Zawya, Karim 1

Wednesday, May 20th

4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

A live table read revisiting the early 2000s classic ‘Sleepless Nights’ with screenwriter Tamer Habib, featuring selected scenes from the screenplay—including excerpts omitted from the final film—performed by emerging actors cast by veteran casting director Marwa Gabriel, offering audiences a rare opportunity to engage directly with the creative voices behind the work.

The session concludes with a conversation between Marwa Gabriel and Tamer Habib, moderated by Yosra Elmallah, unpacking the film’s journey from script to screen. Presented in collaboration with HerStory Films and Starz Studio.

Unplugged: Tell me… a ghost story

The Factory

Wednesday, May 20th

9:30 PM - 11:00 PM

An intimate late-night storytelling session where writers, poets and audience members come together for a childhood-like gathering in the dark to share ghost stories by flashlight—each given five minutes to tell their own—before ending the night with a no-phones, no-talking listening session in collaboration with Rowayat.

Choreographies of Care: Public Session

Zawya, Karim 2

Thursday, May 21st

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

A public session exploring safer and more sustainable creative environments in film and theatre, introducing the roles of intimacy and mental health coordinators while opening conversations around care, ethics and improving working conditions when dealing with sensitive material. The session also serves as an entry point into ideas that will be explored more deeply in Manassat’s full training programme launching in late 2026, while offering attendees more details on how to participate.

Between Freedom and Care: Who Protects the Actor?

Zawya, Karim 2

Friday, May 22nd

2:15 PM - 4:00 PM

A panel discussion moderated by Sondos Shabayek, bringing together Karima Mansour, Noha Adel and Yosra El Lozy to unpack questions of emotional safety, consent and creative freedom in film and theatre, examining the realities of working with emotionally vulnerable or intimate material on set while opening the floor to future possibilities and practical solutions.

Across the Universe: Broadcasts, Tunes & Podcasts

Zawya, Karim 2

Saturday, May 23rd

1:15 PM - 3:00 PM

A conversation with voices from the world of radio, podcasts and audio storytelling—Ahmed Ragab, Zahra Rami and Youssra El Hawary—exploring how sound-based media shapes culture, connection and the way stories travel across generations and platforms, moderated by Yomna Khattab and Karim El Dalil, hosts of the upcoming podcast

‘A Date With…’   A Programmer’s Guide to the Galaxy

Zawya, Karim 2

Saturday, May 23rd

5:00 PM - 6:45 PM

Inspired by the iconic sci-fi title 'The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, this roundtable discussion places multidisciplinary curators and cultural programmers at the intersection of art and collective consciousness, exploring how the former acts as a mirror to the latter while posing questions about our communities, the world at large… and the galaxy. Moderated by Anthropology Bel3araby’s Farah Hallaba.