Pharaohs’ Golden Parade:
The Making of

On April 3rd, 2021, Egypt hosted one of the most memorable processions in history — The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade. The event witnessed the relocation of 22 mummies belonging to Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat. During the relocation, the mummies were placed in special nitrogen-filled containers to help protect them against external conditions and carried on boat-like vehicles, fitted with special shock-absorbers, that emulated the vessels used to convey ancient Egyptian pharaohs to their tombs. Accompanying the mummies were 60 motorcycles, 150 horses and hundreds of performers wearing pharaonic costumes. This spectacle marked the culmination of months of preparation and promotion. Some of the creative key players behind the parade will talk about their various roles and contributions from branding, production and costume design to cinematography and lighting design.

Panelists: Ahmad Al Morsy has been working in the filmmaking industry for over 20 years, making more than 50 films and over 2000 TV ads as a DoP, and recently as a director. Throughout his career, Al Morsy won over 22 awards, both nationally and internationally.  Currently, he is a member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) and the Australian Cinematographers Society. He worked on numerous highly-acclaimed films like “El Medina” (The City) by Yousry Nasrallah, which holds the record for Egypt's first film shot by a digital camera, Youssef Chahine's “Alexandria ... New York” (2004), “The Yacoubian Building” (2006), the highest production budget film in Egyptian cinema history, “Aswar Al Amar” (Walls of the Moon) in 2009, the second film in the world to be shot using an ARRI D21 camera, and “Blue Elephant: Dark Whispers,” which became the highest-grossing film in the history of Egyptian cinema.

Farida Temraz is the founder and creative director of the renowned couture brand, Temraza. Temraz started with the sole purpose of bringing Egypt back to the global fashion map through Temraza’s global appearances and successful international penetration. She has also established the Temraza Fashion Studio to promote the fashion industry in Egypt and develop a strong fashion education. She has been selected as Egypt’s fashion ambassador by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, North African director at the Council of International Fashion Designers (CIFD), and North African ambassador of the Fashion Business Association of America (FBAA). In 2020, Temraz was once again chosen by Forbes to be amongst the great women empowering female entrepreneurship for ‘Successful Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands.’

Karim Mekhtigian, though Armenian in origin, was raised in Cairo in an environment that allowed him to enjoy the city’s multicultural background. Mekhtigian studied interior design and scenography at the École Supérieure d’Art et Techniques (E.S.A.T.) in Paris, where he later started ‘Dessilk’, offering a variety of handmade tableware and home accessories. In 1997, he moved back to Cairo and founded Alchemy Design Studio, offering a wide range of design services including architecture, interior and product design. Believing in the importance of creating an Egyptian design community, he created the Egyptian Designers Forum (EDF) along with other Egyptian design moguls in 2005. In 2010, Mekhtigian launched a new furniture brand ‘Alchemy Cairo.’ Renowned for his ability to tell every client’s story, Mekhtigian believes that a good design is the one that combines cultural codes, traditions, modern visions and new technologies.

Mazen El Motagawel is an Egyptian director, cinematographer, and lighting designer with Libyan origins. El Motagawel studied at the High Cinema Institute and soon after began training under the guidance of some of the top-notch DoPs in the field. He started out as a loader and then quickly moved on to become a focus puller. His graduation projects received much recognition for their superlative technical distinction. Due to his field work excellence, at only twenty-three, he was fortunate to find his golden ticket to work on his first long feature film and cult classic “The Seventh Sense” as the film’s DoP. ​He has continued to work on hundreds of prestigious projects of all forms until finally getting the opportunity to take part in the meticulously orchestrated Pharaoh’s Golden Parade.

Mohamed Attia began his career in the filmmaking industry in 2001 as an art director and production designer. Over the past 22 years, Attia has worked on 14 feature films, over 3,000 TV commercials as well as TV series, TV programs and music videos. Throughout his career, he received over 20 awards and worked with Egypt’s most renowned directors: Marwan Hamed, Tarek Al Arian, Mohamed Khan, Youssry Nasrallah, Ahmed Alaa as well as Mohamed Yassin. Additionally, Attia has expanded his scope to the design and production of events since 2018 and has now become one of the most important event production designers in Egypt. These events include the 3 last editions of the Cairo International Film Festival, 3rd edition of the Gouna Film Festival, the last 2 editions of World Youth Forum, inauguration ceremony of the mosque and church in the New Capital, and finally the infamous Pharaoh’s Golden Parade.

Mohamed Fares is an indelible part of Egypt’s creative zeitgeist. Highlights of Fares’ career trajectory include his current position as Chief Designer of Alchemy Design Studio as well as representing Egypt at the International Young Design Entrepreneur (IYDE) Awards in 2008 in London. As a thought leader in design, his history extends beyond the numerous commercial and residential projects and into the realm of everyday life. His creative fingerprint can be seen on his own line of eyewear, photography projects and musical interests. His finesse for storytelling and eye for captivating visuals is on display in his work as an auteur, occupying the director’s chair in a number of projects. Each project under his purview presents a unique and layered narrative. Fares gives it clarity and intent, focused through the lens of his mind’s eye. The results are, in equal measure, surprising and delightful. 

Moderator: Sawsan Morad has been the editor-in-chief of El Beit magazine since 2017. Previously, Morad was the executive editor of the magazine from 2014. With more than 20 years of experience in arts journalism, she led an overhaul of the magazine and its role, launching a number of initiatives and projects. In 2018, Morad founded “Cairo 18” initiative, which aims to preserve the identity and heritage of Cairo and restore its status as a regional hub for creativity and arts. Taking the magazine to an international front, she partnered with the Italian platform “Fuorisalone” in 2021 to establish “Cairo Milano Design” media platform, which gives Egyptian designers access to the European markets and provides an international stage for the Egyptian products. Morad is also the founder of the Cultural Dialogue Series, an initiative launched in late 2018 and aimed at bringing together creative minds from Egypt and around the world in an open dialogue.