FMD 2019 TALKS & PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Ahmed Hefnawy is a man of many talents. He is the founder of Cairopolitan, an Illustrator, Product/Graphic designer, Sculptor and Collector. Born and raised in Cairo, he graduated from fine arts in the year 2000. Soon after graduation, Hefnawy worked in the advertising field until 2017. During his later years in advertising, Hefnawy worked in Leo Burnett as a storyboard illustrator, art director, graphic designer and a creative. In 2006, the idea of founding Cairopolitan began to grow, combining his art & design background with his extensive experience in the professional sphere. Hefnawy took part in several group exhibitions over the years. Some of  these include "The Mediterranean Triennial" , "Horreya” in Helsinki, Finland and Cairo, and "Inktober Exhibition, Medrar”.

Nelly El Sharkawy is an architect and ballerina who started Photography in 2011 and began shooting conceptual self-portraits in 2012. Nelly participated in exhibitions all around Egypt, including SOMA Art School, ArtsMart, Darb1718, DCAF, Kasr el Fenoun, Photopia Photo Gallery at The Westown Hub’s Winter Festival, El Sawy Cultural Center and many others. Nelly won The CIB’s prize for the 25th Youth Salon and was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2017. She is a co-founder of the Cairo-based initiative, Mashrou' El Saada, which aims is to psychologically support people living in Egypt's neglected slums, by the use of color and design. Nelly joined Cairopolitan in 2017 and is currently a Partner, Manager and Creative Director.

Omar Abdel Latif is a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from the American University in Cairo (AUC) with high honors. Having minored in Business, he was selected to represent AUC in the Hult Prize Competition, a one million dollar competition aimed to solve some of the world’s key social challenges. With diverse working experiences ranging from Engineering, Operations, Marketing and Sales, Abdellatif landed in Uber in 2016. He is responsible for the exponential growth of Uber in Alexandria and the North Coast. Abdel Latif is currently working as Operation & Logistics manager at Uber, and is responsible for recruiting thousands of drivers in the MENA region. Omar is also a business partner in Cairopolitan, leading business development & setting marketing strategy.

Salma Mobarak has extensive experience in the area of Cultural Mediation. Her field of research is Comparative Literature with expertise in the relationship between Literature and Cinema. Mobarak is a professor at the French Department of Cairo University’s Faculty of Arts. She is also co-founder of the “Cultural Development” diploma at Cairo University, as well as the “Cinema Critique” diploma at Ain Shams University. Employing her expertise, Mobarak authored two books entitled النص و الصورة ، السينما و الأدب فى ملتقى الطرق published by the General Egyptian Book Organization and Débuts en comparaison. She is the founder and director of the “Amoun Researchers Network in Cinema and Literature”, and has founded the first Cinema Club at Cairo University’s Faculty of Arts.

Omar Nagati is a practicing architect and urban planner, and the co-founder of CLUSTER, an urban design and research platform in Downtown Cairo. He studied at UBC Vancouver and UC Berkeley, and adopts an interdisciplinary approach to urban history and design, focusing on empirical research and critical mapping of urban informality. Nagati teaches an Urban Design Studio at the MSA University in Giza and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Sheffield, UK. Nagati is co-author with Beth Stryker of Archiving the City in Flux (2013) and Street Vendors and the Contestation of Public Space (2017). He’s also co-editor of Learning from Cairo (2013), and Creative Cities: Reframing Downtown Cairo (2016).

Eman Elhoufy is the Programs and Business Development Manager at CLUSTER. She has undertaken different roles in a variety of social and cultural organizations in Cairo, including CLUSTER, Goethe Institut Kairo, and Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF). Elhoufy worked as a business analyst with the management centre UK (=mc), where she carried out assignments for the British Film Institute, Amber Associates Newcastle, and the WorldWide fund for Nature UK. Her responsibilities included producing analysis of organisational background and context, as well as ‘testing’ systems and supporter journeys to assess their effectiveness. Elhoufy has a Bachelor degree in Economics from The American University in Cairo (AUC).

Hatem Tag graduated from the Scenography department of Fine Arts- Helwan University in 2011. Tag founded Qabila Media Production in 2010. In the same year, he also founded and managed the Qabila Film Festival. Tag has directed a couple of short films and has executive produced more than 400 videos and shows, produced by Qabila and Bare Entertainment. Tag is currently the CEO of Bare Entertainment and Qabila Media Production.

Islam El Mashtooly is an architect, urban designer, and educator. Embracing a comprehensive and humane design philosophy, Mashtooly is committed to architecture that supports and enhances communities. Mashtooly has worked in a wide range of projects, and he has been awarded the 2015 “Middle East Young Architect” in Dubai, UAE. He also won the “Outstanding Individual of the Year” in ME Consultants’ Awards. Mashtooly was selected as one of the top 40 power list architects in the Middle East, retaining this position for four years in a row. Most recently, Mashtooly was announced as one of the curators for the Egyptian Pavilion’s Venice Biennale 2018 with a team of Dubai-based architects including Cristiano Luchetti and Mouaz Abouzaid.

Mouaz Abouzaid is an award winning architect with laser focus on simple, functional, contextual yet aesthetical design. Abouzaid is a Design Technology Manager. He is a proud winner of the MEAA Young Architect of the Year Awards of 2016. In 2018, Abouzaid was appointed as curator for the Egyptian National Pavilion La Biennale di Venezia. Moreover, Abozaid has retained his position in the top 50 most influential Architects in the Middle East for 3 consecutive years. For over 15 years, Abouzaid has been working at the top international firms in the Middle East. Equipped with a tremendous working experience, Abouzaid’s expertise covers multiple market sectors such as residential, commercial, cultural, hospitality and mixed-use.

Karim Shaaban is a Cairo-based filmmaker with a diverse array of skills and experiences under his belt. Starting his journey in 2006, he has gone from experimental short films to advertising, music videos, documentaries and short feature films. His most recent projects involve directing the Shell Rimula and the Shell Helix commercials. Shaaban approaches filmmaking with the unique purpose of narrating a story. As an accomplished director, he mainly regards himself to be a visual storyteller, who uses analytic observation and meticulous attention to detail to tell a story that is richly layered with symbolism and poignancy. Shaaban’s distinctive brand of filmmaking stems from his extensive experience across the various filmmaking departments, including editing, sound production, camera operations and more.

Mustafa Sharara is a filmmaker, an entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Excuse My Content, a house of filmmaker creatives who bring the craft of filmmaking into the advertising world. Sharara’s work has been recognized by several local and international organizations like National Geographic, The World Bank, MBC Group, Samsung Mobile, Huntgram, and El Bawaba. He was also featured on Cairo Scene’s list of “25 Under 25: Egypt's Youngest, Bravest, and Most Impactful Entrepreneurs of 2016”. As a naturally curious explorer, Sharara has a knack for photographing and sharing unique scenes of Egypt. He amassed a substantial following on Instagram and became an official featured user. Mustafa is a proud ambassador of the #thisisegypt campaign, and has had one of his photos featured in New York’s Times Square in 2016.

Omar Heraiz is Co-Founder, Creative Director and Film Director at Excuse My Content; a video content production agency based in Cairo. In addition to his BA in Applied Media Design, he pursued careers in business development, project management, animation, branding & strategy, editing, and scriptwriting. Heraiz has been working professionally as a writer and filmmaker since 2012, creating films and advertising for individuals as well as brands like Danone, Nielsen, Unilever, P&G, UN Women, Rise Up, Wuzzuf and Hyde Park Developments. He took part in Social Media Day delivering a talk about branded online content, and conducted multiple workshops on creative process, filmmaking, and advertising in private and public events. Heraiz’s most recent work can be seen within the Excuse My Content portfolio.

Mohamed Elshahed was trained as an architect at the New Jersey Institute of Technology before joining the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Art and Architecture at MIT and completing his PhD at NYU's Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. His multidisciplinary scholarship and practice focus on the history of modernism in Egypt. As the “Modern Egypt” Project curator at the British Museum, he built a new collection of material culture from the past century in Egypt to be part of the museum's permanent collection. He is the curator of Egypt's medal winning pavilion "Modernist Indignation" at the 2018 London Design Biennale and “Cairo Now! City Incomplete” at the 2016 Dubai Design Week, featuring 65 Egyptian designers. Elshahed is the author of the forthcoming book Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide, published by the American University in Cairo Press.

Ahmed Tahoun studied textile Engineering. Although unrelated to Visual media, he found himself drawn to photography, moving images, and Cinematography after graduation. Ahmed worked for many years as a Cinematographer, in varying projects like TV commercials and Documentaries, and in varying countries like Egypt, Germany, Brazil, France, and Lebanon. Tahoun has worked as a Director, Producer, and Cinematographer. His work can be described as a dynamic, fast-paced, and vivid portrayal of the youth’s sub-culture, with a heavy influence from music. He enjoys turning the streets into his own concrete playground. Ahmed is based in Cairo.

Ahmad Hammoud is an independent graphic designer and art director. His main area of interest is visual culture with a specific focus on popular design and vernacular aesthetics. Hammoud has worked with multiple cultural entities such as Cairobserver. His work was featured in Cairo Now! City Incomplete Exhibition in Dubai Design Week 2016. His work was also featured in the two rounds of 100 Best Arabic Posters Competition. After graduating, Hammoud began applying his design thinking background in the advertising field. He worked at Kairo, a leading independent advertising agency, for a year as an art creative director.

Mai Elwakil is a writer, editor and video producer based in Cairo. She is the co-founder and former director of Medrar.TV, and currently works as the multimedia series editor at Mada Masr.