Mohamed Rashad, film director
The Settlementbased on real events, is the first fiction feature film by Egyptian film director Mohamed Rashad, a film that won the Audience Award at the Afrikaldia 2025 Festival. After the film’s screening, we had the opportunity to speak with the filmmaker.
Why did you decide to tell this story?
I don’t know why. It is very unusual for Egyptian cinema to show industrial environments, but my father was a worker and I am fascinated by that world. I had already made a documentary before, Little Eaglesabout my relationship with my father, which I filmed while working at the factory. I think I’m interested in films that talk about workers and those about the father-son relationship. In The Settlement It is not just about the relationship between Hossam and his father, but also the relationship between Hossam and Maro, who replaced his father with his older brother. It’s also about what he expects from his older brother, whom he sees as a role model. I am also interested in the topic of inheritance, present in Little Eagles. In The Settlementalthough in a different way, it is present what we receive from our families, from our parents, what they give us, and whether our future will be different or we will have the same destiny.
How did you go from engineer to film director?
The truth is that engineering did not interest me at all. I come from a very poor family in Alexandria and we lived in a dangerous neighborhood. My mother was worried about me, so she kept me at home watching movies. That’s why I became interested in cinema, where a large part of my way of thinking and feeling comes from. Sometimes I feel like I want to give something back, tell stories to make people think and feel. I have always been interested in cinema and I really wanted to be part of this world, but I was in Alexandria, where there was no film school at that time and I couldn’t go to Cairo due to lack of means. Unfortunately, I was good at studying. I was smart in school and got good grades, so I started studying engineering, even though I didn’t want to. However, the Jesuits in Alexandria have a cultural center where I used to go to see movies, theater and all kinds of things. In 2003 they opened a private film school, I applied and they admitted me.
What was the most difficult part of the film?
To be honest, the financing. It was very difficult because the film was shot in places that were very expensive. For example, we asked them not to work in the factory for two weeks. The cameras and equipment also cost a lot. These types of films are very difficult to finance. On the other hand, finding the locations was also complicated.
And what did you like the most?
When you make a film you have to enjoy every moment, because that’s how you express your feelings and thoughts. And if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. Although it is exhausting, it is enjoyable. There were two very emotional moments in which I cried. One was while filming a scene, which we later cut from the film, in which Maro was asleep and Hossam wakes him up. The other, during assembly. I cried when I watched the entire scene where Hossam applies cream to his mother’s leg. I don’t know why, but it was a very pleasant moment.
What was it like working with actors who were participating in a fiction feature film for the first time?
The protagonist, Adham Shokry, studied theater, but it was the first time he stood in front of a camera. The mother, Hanady Abd Alkhalek, is his drama teacher. That’s why I like the relationship between them: they knew each other before and have a certain connection. For Maro, Zeyad Islam, it was his first time. We did three months of rehearsals, maybe more. I had three actors for the role of Hossam, with whom I worked at the same time for a month and a half, and all three of them knew that there were two others. From the beginning I told them: “There are three of you and I will choose one after a month and a half.” I try to create a story for each character, and in rehearsals there were scenes that are not in the script, but are covered in the story. For example, there were scenes of Hossam with his father, although his father does not appear in the film. We build the character’s story together, it’s the actors and me.
How long did the whole process take?
Five years. I wrote the script in November 2019 and the premiere took place at the Berlinale in February 2025.
The film is set in Alexandria, but it could be any working-class neighborhood in the world. Was it a deliberate decision to tell a universal story?
I think it’s universal because there are people all over the world who don’t have a platform to talk about themselves. And I am against capitalism everywhere. I also made that decision because the best known thing about Alexandria is the sea and I didn’t want to show it in the film. In Alexandria everyone can go to the sea, but it is very far away and it is not so easy to go if you have a job and such a hard life. Sometimes it’s like a gift, a reward. I wanted to talk about people who don’t go to the sea so easily.
What are your main references for the film?
When I started shooting the film, I didn’t have any references in mind. But from the beginning I was told that it was similar to Kaurismäki’s films and I feel honored to be compared to him, since he is a very important director. Furthermore, they told me that it is quite similar to the new realism of Italian cinema. I won an award at the El Gouna Film Festival, and the person who presented me with the award was the artistic director of the Lucano Film Festival. He talked about the film and how it reminded him of the new realism of Italian cinema.
What does the factory mean as a character in the film?
The monster of capitalism.
What is Hassala Films, of which you are co-founder?
Hassala Films is a collective, a group of filmmakers, directors, producers, editors and cinematographers who discuss our work together and who are interested in films that take risks. It’s not about the needs of the market, but about films that truly reflect a director’s vision. We started in 2012, after my producer, Hala Lofty, a senior member of Hassala Films, shot her feature film Coming Forth by Day. So far, we have made three feature-length fiction films and six or seven feature-length documentaries.
What situation is Egyptian cinema in?
It was very strong in the Arab and African world and we have a great tradition. Now, unfortunately, it is no longer the same. It’s still strong, but in a type of film that I don’t like. Commercial cinema is comedy and action, because our cinematic history is very similar to that of Hollywood cinema. They had very powerful films from the 40s to the 90s, but now it’s all superheroes, comedies and very superficial films. However, a change is occurring, since even in commercial cinema they have started to make films about people and emotions, but it is not as powerful as before.
Is the rise of independent Egyptian cinema due to a new generation of directors?
Yes, but I miss that time, which ended in the 90s, when independent cinema did not exist, because commercial cinema was already commercial both in terms of themes and in the way of making films. In the 80s and 90s we had very well-known directors who were not interested in festivals or anything like that, like Mohammed Khan, Atef El-Tayeb, Daoud Abdel Sayed or Yousry Nasrallah. They made movies in Egypt and they were really good. People were interested in his cinema and the themes were different.
Do you already have your next project in mind?
I have some ideas, but I’m still writing the script. Before The Settlement I spent a year writing a movie that I didn’t end up shooting, so we’ll see. Additionally, I am with Hala Lofty producing another film for a Hassala colleague, Nadine Salib. She is also a director and was my assistant director. I had already made a very good documentary in 2014, Mother of the Unbornbut this will be his first fiction feature film.
What is your dream for the future?
In the 80s and 90s there was a television program that featured big movie stars. When they were asked this question, they repeated an answer that I didn’t like: live in a peaceful world, where there were no wars. I thought it was a cliché, but the last few years have been very hard all over the world. I dream of a peaceful life for the world.
