'Yomeddine' Produced By Alumna Dina Emam '16 is Egypt's Official Selection for 2019 Academy Award

November 26, 2018

Yomeddine, produced by Dina Emam '16 is Egypt's official selection for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. Yomeddine is a road comedy about an Egyptian man, Beshay, who leaves the leper colony for the first time after being cured. The film premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert’s website calls the film a “playful and poignant road movie,” which was a frontrunner for a feel-good-film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Made for $500,000, the film faced many challenges during production including securing funding, acquiring shooting permits and working with the leads, Rady Gamal and Ahmed Abdelhafiz, both of whom had never acted for the screen before.

Yomeddine received a theatrical release in France by Le Pacte and was recently acquired for North American distribution by Strand Releasing.

Dina Emam is an American-Egyptian producer based in Cairo and New York. This year, Emam was named one of Variety's 10 Producers to Watch. Prior to becoming a producer, Emam worked in television market research and production management at MTV Networks in New York City. She educates aspiring young filmmakers in the Middle East the art and craft of creative and logistical producing. Emam is a graduate of the Creative Producing Program at Columbia University.