Ahmed Magdy

Filmmaker, actor, and Yoga instructor Ahmed Magdy was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 4 May 1986. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Ain Shams University, then joined the Al-Tamy Theater Troupe and worked as an actor and assistant director for three years. His debut film is the independent short documentary Magra Al-Seil (Riverbed) in 2007. Afterwards, Magdy took part in a workshop titled Al-Zatt Wa Al-Madina – Al-Qahira (The Self and the City- Cairo), through which he directed his documentary Zizo (2007). After that, Ahmed directed Keika Bel Crema (Cream Cake) (2008) that received the Judges Award at the Algerian Independent Film Festival and the Jordan Independent Short Film Festival, in addition to the Silver Hock award at the Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam. Magdy’s documentary film Ila Al-Bahr (To the Sea), participated in Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2009, the festival which Ahmed visited again in 2012 as a member of the Short Films Competition Jury. In 2013, Ahmed received the SANAD Development Grant from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, and the AFAC Production Grant in 2014 for his debut narrative feature No One There. As an actor, Magdy received a number of awards for acting in highly-acclaimed films in festivals, such as Asafeer Al-Neel (Birds of the Nile), Microphone, The Gate of Departure, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, and Mawlana, alongside a number of successful TV series.