Ahd Kamel’s MY DRIVER AND I Wins Golden Palm at the 11th Saudi Film Festival!

release date April 25 2025

Ahd Kamel’s film MY DRIVER AND I took home the Golden Palm for Best Narrative Feature at the prestigious closing ceremony of the 11th Saudi Film Festival, which took place from April 17 to 23.

Following its world premiere at the Red Sea International Film Festival, MY DRIVER AND I quickly gained recognition, especially after winning the Golden Palm at the Saudi Film Festival, and is set to continue its journey, with anticipation for future festival screenings.

MY DRIVER AND I follows Salma, a young, affluent, and rebellious Saudi girl whose family hires a Sudanese man named Gamar to drive her to and from her day-to-day routines.

Initially adhering to a professional dynamic, Salma and Gamar’s budding relationship soon blossoms into a friendship that binds them throughout her teenage years, yet their bond is put to the test as Salma gets older and starts taking the wheel.

An OSN+ original, MY DRIVER AND I will air on OSN+ and OSNtv with co-productions by Georgie Paget and Thembisa Cochrane from Caspian Films, Corniche Media, and Odd Kamel Films. Meanwhile, MAD World handles the film’s sales outside the MENA region.

Commenting on her film, director Ahd Kamed stated, “The film opens a window on a certain strand of late 20th-century Saudi society, looking deep into the core of a privileged household where the hired-help become part of the family, and watching as a girl’s universal journey through adolescence comes into contact with the reality of societal expectations.”

MY DRIVER AND I — which is Kamel’s directorial feature debut — was supported by OSN, Cairo Film Connection, the UK Global Screen Fund, and the Red Sea Film Foundation and is a heart-wrenching tale that shows the overlap of Sudanese society in Saudi Arabia like never before.

A joint production between Saudi Arabia and the UK, MY DRIVER AND I was directed and written by Ahd Kamel, lensed by Frida Marzouk, and edited by Andonis Trattos, with sound handled by Emmanuel Zouki and music by Marc Codsi.

The film stars Roula Dakheelallah, Rana Alamuddin, Qusai Kheder, and features rising Sudanese actor Mustafa Shehata, known for his breakout role in YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY. The production team includes Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, director of YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY and producer of Yemen's Oscar submission THE BURDENED, as well as the acclaimed GOODBYE JULIA.

Ahd Kamel is an award-winning actress and filmmaker from Jeddah, celebrated for her remarkable performances in both film and television. She gained international recognition for her role in the BAFTA-nominated 2014 film WADJDA. Kamel also portrayed Fatima in the critically acclaimed 2018 BBC and Netflix series COLLATERAL.

In 2022, she co-starred alongside Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, and Laurence Fishburne in Amazon’s thriller ALL THE OLD KNIVES. In addition to her acting, Kamel has directed two award-winning short films, SHOEMAKER and SANCTITY, the latter of which made history as the first Saudi film to compete at the Berlinale.