Sherif El Bendary

Sherif El Bendary
Born (1978-09-29) 29 September 1978 (age 46)
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, film producer
Years active2005–present

Sherif El Bendary (Arabic: شريف البنداري; born 29 September 1978) is an Egyptian film director, writer and producer. His debut feature film was Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim.[1]

Life and career

Sherif graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in 2001 and then worked in textile factories. Later, he joined the Egyptian Film Institute in 2002 and graduated in 2007, where he currently teaches film directing. His directorial debut was the 2006 short film Rise and Shine starring Hend Sabry and produced by the National Film Center, the film won numerous awards locally and internationally including Tribeca Film Festival. In 2008, El Bendary wrote and directed At Day's End based on a short story by the acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ibrahim Aslan. In 2011, he directed the feature-length documentary On the Road to Downtown and the short film Curfew which is a part of the anthology film 18 Days – official selection Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, his short film Dry Hot Summers won the Robert Bosch Stiftung film prize[2] from the Berlinale Talents campus, it premiered at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival[3] and Dubai International Film Festival. In 2017, He released his first feature-length narrative film Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim an Egyptian/Emirati/French co-production, which won the Best Actor prize at Dubai International Film Festival and was released in Egypt and France and many other countries. He also directed the TV series Al Gamaa Part 2, written by veteran screenwriter Wahid Hamed and was broadcast in 2017.

He served as a jury member in several festivals including Cairo International Film Festival, El Gouna Film Festival, and the Egyptian National Film Festival.

In 2019, El Bendary founded Africa Films, a production company that mainly focuses on short and feature films by promising upcoming first- and second-time directors, and which will also produce Spray, his second feature film.

Filmography

Feature-length films

Short films

Year Film Credited as
Director Writer Producer
2005 Six Girls Yes Yes No
2006 Rise and Shine Yes No No
2008 At Day's End Yes Yes No
2011 18 Days (segment "Curfew") Yes No No
2015 Dry Hot Summers Yes No Yes
2019 Sunday at Five Yes Yes Yes

Television

Festivals and awards

Rise and Shine (2006)
  • Jury Prize, National Film Festival
  • Golden Hawk, Rotterdam Arab Film Festival
  • Jury Prize, Ismailia International Film Festival
  • Best Short, AMAL- International Euroarab Film Festival
  • Media Award, Tirana International Film Festival
  • Mohamed Shebli prize for Best Short Film

At Day's End (2008)

  • Silver Muhr Award, Dubai International Film Festival
  • Cine Cinema Award, Aix-en-Provence Tous Courts Short Film Festival
  • Prix du Jury Jeune, Aix-en-Provence Tous Courts Short Film Festival
  • Best Short Film, Noah's Ark International Film Festival
  • Official selection, Tribeca Film Festival[4]

On the Road to Downtown (2011)

  • Best Short Documentary, Ismailia International Film Festival

Dry Hot Summers (2015)

Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim (2016)

References

  1. ^ "Sherif El Bendary, Koutaiba Al-Janabi share top $20,000 Cairo Film Connection award". Screendaily. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Dry Hot Summers (Har .. Gaf .. Sayfan) | Filmprize". www.filmprize.de.
  3. ^ a b "International Short Film Festival - Clermont-Ferrand". my.clermont-filmfest.com.
  4. ^ "At Day's End | Tribeca Film Festival". Tribeca.
  5. ^ "Awards 2016 | Malmo Arab Film Festival". maffswe.com.
  6. ^ "Egypt's 'Dry Hot Summers' scoops best short award at Malmo Arab Film Festival - Film - Arts & Culture". Ahram Online.
  7. ^ "Egypt's 'Dry Hot Summers' wins best film at Oman's Dhofar Arab Film Forum - Film - Arts & Culture". Ahram Online.
  8. ^ "awards 2017 | Malmo Arab Film Festival". maffswe.com.
  9. ^ "Ali Sobhy Wins the Best Actor Award at the Dubai International Film Festival". mad.film.