Hend Sohail’s A PROMISE TO THE SEA receives praise after an outstanding Arab World premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival

release date October 31 2024

Hend Sohail’s Egyptian short A PROMISE TO THE SEA recently enjoyed a triumphant Arab World debut in its home country as part of the Official Short Film Competition at the seventh El Gouna Film Festival.

The film — which enjoyed two outstanding screenings on Tuesday, October 29th, and Wednesday, October 30th — held its MENA premiere with several of its crew in attendance, including director Hend Sohail, producer Nourhan Yasser, assistant producer Nadine Sohail, the film’s protagonist Nabil Botros Talaan, and Caramel the dog, who won everyone's hearts at the festival’s red carpet.

Both screenings of A PROMISE TO THE SEA were also attended by several critics and industry professionals, such as screenwriter Tamer Habib and director Sandra Nashaat, as well as a number of Egypt’s elite actors, including Bushra, Ahmed Dash, Amr Abed, Amir El-Masry, Rakeen Saad, Mohamed Hatem, and Amina Khalil, who is among the festival’s Best Short Film jury.

The film — which world premiered at the São Paulo International Short Film Festival and won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Linz International Short Film Festival — follows Zain, who, after irrationally deciding to steal his mother’s corpse during the funeral preparations, recklessly drives far from his humble hometown and hits the highway, where he encounters a situation that will change his life forever.

The film’s director Sohail revealed what she had hoped to achieve with A PROMISE TO THE SEA, saying, “Through this film, I want to tell the story of an extraordinary relationship between a son and his mother. When Zain loses his mother, he refuses to accept this closure and starts to think of another one, leading him to embark on a risky journey, during which he discovers that the world is much bigger than he had previously thought.”

Directed and co-written by Hend Sohail alongside Omar Zinhom, A PROMISE TO THE SEA stars Nabil Botros Talaan, is lensed by Mostafa El Kashef, edited by Samir Radwan, and produced by That’s A Wrap’s Nourhan Yasser and co-producers Younes Medhat, Mohammed Al-Omda, Ahmed El-Naggar, Dina Shokry, and Hussain Hamadi.

Meanwhile, the film’s international sales are handled by MAD World, while its distribution and sales in the Arab-speaking world are handled by MAD Distribution.

Hend Sohail is an Egyptian director and editor who studied editing at the High Cinema Institute, where she assisted a number of notable directors on several short films and commercials.

After graduating, she worked as a director’s producer for esteemed commercial directors, enriching her skills further before pursuing her dream of becoming a director and working on small social media projects and commercials. A PROMISE TO THE SEA is her directorial debut.