Sally El-Hosaini
سالي الحسيني
Born
Swansea, Wales
Alma materUnited World College of the Atlantic

Sally El-Hosaini (Arabic: سالى الحسينى [ˈsæːli (ʔe)lħoˈseːni]) is a Welsh-Egyptian BAFTA nominated film director and screenwriter.


Background

El-Hosaini was born in Swansea, Wales, of Egyptian and Welsh parentage, and raised in Cairo, Egypt.[1][2]

El-Hosaini completed her high school education at Atlantic College, one of the United World Colleges, in Wales. She went on to read Arabic with Middle Eastern Studies at Durham University.

Before making films she taught English literature at a girls' school in Sana'a, Yemen, and worked for Amnesty International.[3]

She is a long-time resident of Hackney, London.[4]

Career

El Hosaini was a trainee to the late renegade theatre director, John Sichel.[1] She began her career working on Middle East documentaries and then moved to independent feature films, where she was a production coordinator for many years. She has stated that her work in British television documentaries felt "formulaic", and that she found she could be more truthful in fiction.[5]

She was the script editor/specialist researcher of the BAFTA and Emmy Award winning HBO Films/BBC Drama mini-series House of Saddam. She spent 21⁄2 years in research for the series, which won a Grierson Award for best factual drama.[6]

In 2009, her short film Henna Night was officially selected for the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.[7] It was in competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Raindance Film Festival.[8]

El-Hosaini was named one of Screen International's UK Stars of Tomorrow for 2009.[9] She also participated in the 2009 Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs, developing My Brother the Devil.[10][11]

Her debut feature film My Brother the Devil won awards internationally, including at the 2013 Evening Standard Film Awards, 2012 Sundance Film Festival, 2012 Berlin International Film Festival and 2012 BFI London Film Festival Awards, amongst others.[12][13][14] It stars Fady Elsayed, BIFA Award-winning James Krishna Floyd and César Award nominated actor Saïd Taghmaoui.

My Brother the Devil was released theatrically in the US, May 2013 and had a wide release in UK cinemas, November 2012. Further releases in Canada, Australia, New Zealand & Germany. The film screened at over 40 International Film Festivals, where it received 12 awards, 17 nominations & an Honourable Mention.[15]

As Writer/Director of the film, El-Hosaini won the Most Promising Newcomer Award at 2013 Evening Standard Film Awards, Best Screenplay at the 2013 Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards, the Best Newcomer Award at the 2012 BFI London Film Festival and the UK New Talent Award at the British Women in Film and Television Awards in 2012.[16] She was also nominated for the BIFA Douglas Hickox award for Best Debut Film at the British Independent Film Awards and the Sutherland Trophy (Best First Film) at BFI London Film Festival.

In 2014 she was chosen by Danny Boyle to direct Babylon, the television series he co-created and produced with Jesse Armstrong for Channel 4 and SundanceTV. She has been profiled by The Guardian,[17] BBC America,[18] IndieWire,[19] and Variety who named her a 2014 "Brit to Watch".[20]

El-Hosaini's next feature, The Swimmers, depicts the harrowing real-life journey of Syrian refugee sisters Yusra Mardini and Sara Mardini. The film opened the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and Zurich Film Festival as well as having a Special Presentation at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival. It was subsequently released in cinemas and on Netflix worldwide in November that same year, to critical acclaim. [21][22] The film was Nominated for a 2022 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. El-Hosaini went on to win the TIFF Emerging Talent Award at the 2022 TIFF Tribute Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival and the BAFTA Cymru award for Best Director at the 2023 BAFTA Cymru Awards. [23]

Filmography

Short film

Year Title Director Writer Producer
2009 Henna Night Yes Yes Yes
2008 The Fifth Bowl Yes Yes Yes

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer Producer
TBC Luna Yes Yes
2023 Unicorns Yes Yes
2022 The Swimmers Yes Yes
2013 My Brother the Devil Yes Yes Yes
2011 Camelia Yes

Television

Year Title Director Writer Producer
2014 Babylon - 3 episodes Yes

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Hoggard, Liz (26 January 2013). "Sally El Hosaini: 'I'm interested in people on the margins of society'". The Observer. London.
  2. ↑ Al Muhanna, Talal (March–April 2010). "Know Who: Script Talk – Sally El Hosaini". Media Production. Dubai: 70.
  3. ↑ McCrum, Kirstie (15 March 2013). "Welsh-Egyptian director Sally El Hosaini on her inspiration". WalesOnline. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Pulver, Andrew; Barnes, Henry (12 November 2012). "My Brother the Devil director Sally El Hosaini: 'A lot of urban films have been laughed at'". guardian.co.uk. London.
  5. ↑ Fox, Killian; Kappala-Ramsamy, Gemma (31 December 2011). "Screen picks for 2012: Tom Green, Domhnall Gleeson and Sally El Hosaini". The Observer. London.
  6. ↑ McCrum, Kirstie (15 March 2013). "Welsh-Egyptian director Sally El Hosaini on her inspiration". Wales Online. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Henna Night". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Henna Night". Raindance Film Festival.
  9. ↑ "Stars of Tomorrow". Screendaily.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "Sundance Institute Announces Twelve Feature Film Projects for January Screenwriters Lab". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Alt URL
  11. ↑ "My Brother the Devil". Sundance Institute.
  12. ↑ Masters, Sam (4 February 2013). "El Hosaini's film about gangs wins her gong at Evening Standard Film Awards". The Independent. London.
  13. ↑ Willis, Holly (20 February 2012). "Sally El Hosaini's My Brother The Devil wins Best European Film at 2012 Berlin Film Festival". Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "London Film Festival announces 2012 award winners". British Film Institute. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  15. ↑ My Brother the Devil
  16. ↑ "Awards winners". Writers' Guild. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  17. ↑ Hoggard, Liz (27 January 2013). "Sally El Hosaini: 'I'm interested in people on the margins of society'". The Observer. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Brook, Tom (28 March 2013). "Sally El Hosaini Provides Antidote to 'Downton Abbey' British Fantasy". BBC America. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #29: Sally El Hosaini, 'My Brother the Devil'". Indiewire. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "Variety's 10 Brits to Watch". Variety. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  21. ↑ ""The Swimmers" Movie Ratings". Rotten Tomatoes. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  22. ↑ ""The Swimmers" Review Scores". Metacritic. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  23. ↑ "2023 BAFTA Cymru Awards: The Winners". Bafta. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
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