Film Clinic CEO Mohamed Hefzy Red Sea Film Festival Interview

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, CEO of Cairo-based production company Film Clinic, received the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award at the Red Sea Film Festival on Dec. 9, prior to the screening of his black and white silent film “Abdo & Saneya.”

Hefzy has just launched a Film Clinic outlet in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and production is ramping up in the kingdom. Recent projects with Saudi Arabia include the Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan,” which had its world premiere at Toronto.

Film Clinic is one of Egypt’s biggest production houses and has played a key role in supporting emerging and independent talent, including Hani Khalifa’s recent thriller “Flight 404.” Egypt’s candidate for the 2025 International Feature Oscar, the film grossed over $4 million in Saudi Arabia alone.

Film Clinic has six films at Red Sea this year, including three in official competition: Khaled Mansour’s “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo,” Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown” and Taghreed Abu Al-Hassan’s “Snow White.”

The company’s 2025 slate includes seven films in various stages, several of which involve Saudi Arabia.

Prior to receiving his award, Hefzy talked with Variety’s Italy and Middle East correspondent, Nick Vivarelli, about his most recent projects and some of his career highlights to date.

Hefzy says that the success of “Microphone” (2010) by Ahmad Abdalla, which screened in over 60 festivals, opened his eyes to the potential of independent cinema.

“The success of my mainstream commercial films that worked in the local market helped me leverage deals to make these smaller, more risque films that have the potential to travel,” he noted.

He has produced five films in total with Abdalla and has worked with many other independent filmmakers, such as Amr Salama on “Sheikh Jackson,” which screened in Toronto in 2017, about a devout Muslim whose life is thrown into…