Illustration is an important part of Egypt’s culture and history, Ancient Egyptians were masters of it, we have learned a lot from the painted images on the murals of ancient temples and tombs.
Sequential images in murals and hieroglyphs hinted at early animation endeavours, and Some of the tombs are a clear prove of that, such as the daily life scenes in Mera (or Mereruka) and Ptah Hotep tombs, at Saqqara.
But the most amazing example is at Beni Hassan tombs in El Menya, where we can see wrestling scenes painted in sequential, and we can easily imagine it moving.
Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish an animation production. In 1934, David and Frankel Herschel created the character of Mish-Mish Effendi, in their film Nothing to Do, and he became a national star.
Since 1960, the Egyptian television was considered the main producer for animation series in Egypt, an entire generation of Egyptian animators worked in it, such as Ali and Hossam Moheeb, Samee' Rafe', Mohamed Haseeb, Noshi Iskandar, and Zakariyya Ajlan.
It is really difficult for Egyptian animators to find independent funding for their work, or establish their own production company, but in the beginning of the 1990s two female Egyptian animators decided to break this rule, Mona Abu Abou El Nasr and Zainab Zamzam.
Abou El Nasr’s Cairo Cartoon Studio became a leading animation studio in the Middle East, and she created many popular Egyptian animation characters, such as the Nubian boy Bakkar, and Sindbad the Sailor, While Zamzam established her company Zamzam Media and she became famous by her Islamic-themed clay animation.
Many Contemporary Egyptian female animators are trying to find their way now, despite the lake of funding for animation production, and some of them were able to succeed not only on national level but also internationally.
At the festival, we will show films:
- Sara A.Mostafa, (Zomrada’s Secret)
Animatic/Storyboard artist, Key animator, and illustrator, currently working as a Teaching assistant in the animation department at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Egypt, and an animatic artist and animation layout artist at Giraffics, worked on freelance projects with Fanar production, Octagonz, Folk Creative Solutions, and Cartoon Network Mena.
Zomoroda's Secret was her Graduation Project at the Faculty of Fine Art, and it has been screened at Animatex Film Festival 2020.
- Menna Hamdy (Noura and Zahra)
Director/Art Director at Giraffics, a Cairo based animation company.
Co- founder of Daad Geem an all-female Cairo-based art collective dedicated to providing art enthusiasts with high-quality original art prints and collectibles, worked as an Assistant Director at Disney+ series (Kizazi Moto Generation Fire, "1st Totem Problems" episode), Collaborated on other projects with UNHCR, UNICEF, IEFTA, Adidas, 8ies studios, TTP, Amazon, Habbar, and Telfaz11.
Deeply committed to social causes and empowering women, directed and Art directed two 10-minute shorts for the project "Telling the Real Stories" collaborating with UNHCR and IEFTA, the project highlights the dangers of illegal immigration, one of them is the story of Noura and Zahra.
- Salma Enani, (There once was a boy)
Animation Filmmaker, experimental storyteller, and Creative Producer.
Started working in the Creative field when she was only 16 years old, working now with Drumstick Design, and she has been working before with Grain studio as a storyteller and developing concept.
Collaborated as a freelancer with other filmmaker on their projects, she is the assistant producer of Abdelrahman Dnewar film in production My Brother My Brother, winner of Robert Bosch Film Prize for International Coproduction in Berlin,
Her Debut film is There Once Was a Boy, it has been screened at El Gouna Film Festival 2023, Festival Internacional de Cine Estudiantil de Naranjal 2023, Luxor African Film Festival 2024, and Animatex Film Festival 2023.
- Sara Shahin, (Into the light)
Storyboard Artist and filmmaker at Samawah Studio, worked with the studio on creating storyboards and animatics for an animated TV series production – TBA, and worked as a freelance on several projects with BLTNM Records, The Basement Records, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yajulu Studio, Fekr Production, OLX, Octagonz, and Follk Creative Solutions.
Into the light (2021) was her first animated short-film, and won Best Student Animation at Animae Caribe Animation & Digital Media Festival 20th Anniversary 2021, she also won recently Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) Production Grant 2024 for her second Short Film If Only You Knew, I'm Not Here.
- Shaimaa El Gazzar, (The Little Red Riding Hood)
Freelance animator, director, art director, light designer, scene designer, costume designer, worked on KIDS series with AL Magd TV channels, theatre plays and performances with Al Tala’a Theater, Studio Emad Eddin, Darb 1718, ElNahar TV channel, and Teatro Independent Theatre.
She made three short film and The Little Red Riding Hood is her graduation project from Jesuit School of Animation in Cairo 2016.
- Aya Marzouk, (How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end?).
Illustrator, Animation Director, Art Director.
Works at Giraffics, co-founder of Daad Geem an all-female Cairo-based art collective, worked with Qabila Media Production, Bare Entertainment, and Monkeys.tv.
Collaborated with TED-Ed on Apartheid Lesson, How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end?, and it was screened at Annecy Animation Festival 2024.
- Sandra Moneer, (Play-the-game)
Illustrator, Animation Director, Art Director, and Producer.
She Works Part time with MICS Podcast, Saudi Arabia as a Senior Illustrator, handling illustration covers for podcasts on different social media platforms, Worked as a freelance on some projects and commercials with Red Cross (ICRC), TED ED, COCA COLA, Citroën, Mullen Lowe Mena, Microsoft, Merk for mothers, EZ Films, Lusail Stadium Mahgoub, and MBC, and worked with Samaka Studio for two years and four months, she directed her first short film Play The Game at Samaka, which earned recognition in various festivals, such as Annecy Festival in France, NY Comic Con Screening in USA, and Animatex festival in Cairo.
- Nour Rahman, (I Might Not Normally Share This).
Assistant lecturer, Animation Director/Producer
Working as an Assistant Lecturer at School of design & Media in The Knowledge Hub Universities (Coventry University), worked before at the American University in Cairo, Lzrd Films, Nawwar Animation School, and Axeer Studio, in addition to her work as a Freelance Editor and Motion Designer.
Her animated documentary I Might Not Normally Share This won a Special Mention at Visions Cairo Short Film Festival, and it was in the official selection of Cairo International Film Festival 2021, and Festival International de Très court-métrage de Marrakech 2021.
- Alia Wahby, (Abo-Elreesh).
Animator, Storyboard artist, illustrator
In 2016 she started her work in the advertising field as Traditional Animator, storyboard Artist and then eventually an Art director working with different clients.
In late 2019 she decided to pursue a path in freelancing as a Traditional Animator and a storyboard Artist.
In 2018 Alia Co-Founded an art collective "Daad Geem" along with other 4 female artists, where they express art though product design. Their work has been showcased in Cairo, Tunisia and Liverpool.
Abo-Elreesh is a commercial she made in collaboration with Kairo for ideas, about a known children hospital in Cairo that takes its name after a famous children folk song.
- Rana Ashraf, (The Air and the worlds).
visual artist, Illustrator, filmmaker, Creative Writer, performer and an aspiring singer-musician.
She has had two international exhibitions, one in Dakar Biennale, Senegal and another in Cairo's international OFF Biennale in 2018. Rana has a parallel main career in migration, she holds a master’s degree in peace and justice studies in California at the University of San Diego.
The Air and the Worlds had its world premiere at Animafest Zaghreb, won honorable mention at Animatex festival, screened at many festivals such as Montecatini International Short Film Festival, Cornwall Film Festival, and Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival.
- Mariam Abdel-Rahman, (Memorial).
Painter, Illustrator, Animation Director, Tutor.
Participated in many international exhibitions in Egypt, Germany, and Chez Republic, co-managed the water way project workshop- Alexandra Zevien and making an exhibit and a short animation movie in 2015, and participated in teaching children animation in Mini-Munich pro in project in Germany.
Made three experimental films screened in different exhibition in Cairo and Germany, and a music video under the name My Ribs are Trees, which was screened in the independent music festival in Jordan 2021.
Studied animation at Jesuit Cairo Animation School, and she became the Administrative Coordinator of the Animation School after graduating, Memorial was her graduation project in 2016, and it has been screened in Germany, Czech Republic, and USA.
