The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced a retrospective devoted to hit-making Egyptian director Marwan Hamed as one of its Focus strands for the 2026 edition.

The focus on Hamed’s work will feature the European premiere of his upcoming Umm Kulthum biopic El Sett starring Mona Zaki ( Flight 404 ) and Mohamed Farag ( Voy!Voy!Voy! ).

The highly-anticipated biopic will screen in Rotterdam’s Limelight strand aimed at arthouse, indie and world cinema titles with broad appeal.

Hamed has repeatedly set box office records in his home country. Most recently, his historical epic Kira & El Gin, which played in IFFR’s 2023 edition, became the biggest financial success in Egyptian cinema history at the time of its release, bringing post-pandemic audiences back to

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