Egyptian short ABU JUDY wins Best Director at Cairo’s Zawya Short Film Festival

release date March 17 2025

Following its successful world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival, the gripping Egyptian short drama film ABU JUDY, by Adel Ahmed Yehia, has won the Best Director Award, which comes with a cash prize of EGP 25,000, at the ninth Zawya Short Film Festival in Cairo, highlighting the film's poignant storytelling and impressive filmmaking.

With a jury consisting of film critic Essam Zakaria, screenwriter Heba Yousry, and director Bassam Mortada, the film competed against 26 other short films.

ABU JUDY tells the touching story of a 10-year-old girl who regularly accompanies her father to work. However, their relationship is put to the test when an unexpected event unfolds, challenging the dynamics between them. The film explores the complexities of the father-daughter relationship while delving into the theme of childhood, navigating the delicate balance between retaining innocence and confronting premature adulthood.

Commenting on the film, director Adel Ahmed Yehia expressed that ABU JUDY is an exploration of the contrast within the father-daughter dynamic, emphasizing the weight of circumstances and the resilience of childhood. He questions whether the child in ABU JUDY has managed to hold onto her innocence or if her father has placed such a heavy burden on her that she feels compelled to save him by becoming part of his world. This tension — between protection and survival, innocence and awareness — is what he aimed to capture.

Yehia further noted that with ABU JUDY, he does not seek to provide answers but rather to raise questions about the unseen emotional and moral complexities that exist in relationships, particularly in the margins of society. He also reflects that sometimes, a child remains a child, and at other times, they grow up too soon

Written and directed by Adel Ahmed Yehia, the film features a talented cast, including Emad Ghoneim, Janna Farouk, and Nesma Bahy, with Disha Hesham as a DOP and Mohamed Mamdouh as an editor.

Notably, Emad Ghoneim and editor Mohamed Mamdouh are recognized for their work on AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY, which made history as the first Egyptian film to win the Venice Film Festival’s Jury Prize for Best Film in Post-Production at the Final Cut in Venice.

Producers Baho Bakhsh and Safi Eldin Mahmoud of Red Star Films, alongside Moataz Abdel Wahab of Hawadeet Films, have brought this compelling story to life along with MAD World that handles worldwide sales and MAD Distribution that manages the film’s distribution across the Arab World.

Adel Ahmed Yehia is a young Egyptian filmmaker who graduated from Egypt’s High Cinema Institute. He made his directorial debut with the short film NADA (2018), his graduation project, which garnered numerous awards at regional and international film festivals. His second short film, ABU JUDY, premiered at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2024.

Recently, Adel ventured into television, directing six episodes of the successful true-crime series DATE AND TIME. He is currently developing his first feature film.