Ayten Amin’s new film AL SHANAB starring up-and-coming actor Hassan Malek opposite veteran actresses Laila Elwi, Sawsan Badr, Lebleba, and Heidy Karam will be holding its world premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival, where it will be competing in the Feature Film Competition.
The news was announced during the El Gouna Film Festival’s annual press conference, where the festival’s founders, sponsors, and esteemed film professionals got to unveil the details of the festival’s eagerly anticipated sixth edition, which will be held from October 13th to the 20th.
The female-centric film follows Laila — a 30-year-old woman who suffers from her mother's stifling control over her life. When a family member suddenly dies, Laila and her mother are forced to go to Alexandria to pay their respects during the three days of mourning, and in the presence of their huge family that consists of four aunts, their children, and their grandchildren, a series of comedic blunders ensues.
Hassan Malek’s participation in AL SHANAB follows his remarkable success in the last Ramadan season with Mai Mamdouh’s drama RASHID, where Hassan excelled in his portrayal of Jamaica — a drug dealer involved in the organ trade. The character received strong reactions on social media, with audiences praising Malek’s mastery of the role to the point of many believing that he may have a similar temperament to this character.
The TV drama starred Mohamed Mamdouh and Reham Abdel-Ghafour and was Hassan Malek’s second collaboration with Mohamed Mamdouh after Karim El-Shenawy’s KHALI BALAK MEN ZIZI in the Ramadan 2021 season.
Malek’s most recent cinematic work was in the film EL MATAREED alongside Ahmed Hatem, Eyad Nassar, Taha Desouky, and Tara Emad. The film was released earlier this year in Egyptian and Saudi Arabian theaters and was directed by Yasser Samy and co-written by Ezzat Amin and Salah El-Gehiny.
Before that, he worked on the psychological drama ETIZAN — which is available for streaming on Watch It — in which he was able to brilliantly and seamlessly embody the character of Adham, who suffers from a number of psychological disorders and gets diagnosed with paranoia.
Among Malek’s other successful works is the Shahid original series BIMBO opposite his older brother Ahmed Malek. The series was directed by Amr Salama and Omar Roshdy Hamed and written by Mohamed Adeeb and a number of young writers.
Malek was also in the series LUEBAT AL-NESYAN, in which he co-starred with Dina El-Sherbiny and Ahmed Dawood.
