Hesham Issawi was born in Egypt and raised in a devoutly intellectual Egyptian family. He moved to America in 1990 to study anthropology. In America he changed his major from anthropology to art and photography. This is where he learned his love of light, the ability to show emotion through shadow and painting a story through the lens. He changed his major to filmmaking. He attended film school, Columbia College/Chicago, and Graduated in 1999. Issawi began his career working in local TV station as an editor and in the documentary world before directing a few short subjects of his own. In 2000 he C0- Produced the Documentary, “Saving the sphinx,” for the Learning Channel and many other documentaries during his stay in Chicago. In 2002 Issawi love of noir Films manifested in his short Film, The Interrogation, which he wrote and directed. It won Best Creative Short film in New York Film Festival and Best Music Score in the California International Film Festival. In 2003, he Co-wrote and directed the short film, T For Terrorist, winner of Best Short Film in both Boston and San Francisco Film Festivals. In 2007 he directed his feature debut, AmericanEast. The movie explores the plight of Middle Eastern people in America post 9/11 and won best picture in Madrid Film Festival, 2008. Hesham lives between Cairo and Los Angeles since 2007. He wrote two scripts that dealt with the new climate in Egypt and became active in the political scene believing that changes can happen in this part of the world. Believing in Independent films, Hesham Issawi decided to make Cairo Exit in his homeland. The movie was shot in Cairo with no permits due the censorship rejecting the script. Cairo Exit was screened in Dubai Film festival, Tribeca Film festival and many other festivals. The movie won numerous prizes in Munich Film festival, European Independent film festival in Paris and Best Film and Actress in AMAL Film Festival in Spain. Hesham Issawi directed THE PRICE in 2015. The movie opened in Cairo Film Festival and was released in Egypt in 2016.
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