Flox

Inspired by everyday struggle of Micro-bus drivers in Cairo, Flox, the title of the film and the name of the micro-bus as pronounced by Its drivers, is an observational documentary that looks at the intricate interplay between class and gender.

Specifically, it explores how micro-bus drivers perceive and negotiate their masculinity in a mega-city like Cairo, For them, driving a difficult vehicle, handling inter-group conflict, struggling with poverty, surviving with substance abuse only made them to wish not to foresee their children inheriting the same job.

The film is about the beauty as well as the dark side of the chaotic life of the urban poor, who are forced to create a state within a state in order to live.

  • Hady Mahmoud
    Director
  • Hady Mahmoud
    Writer
  • Hady Mahmoud
    Producer
  • Cairo Higher Cinema Institute
    Producer
  • Azza Kalfat
    Cinematography
  • Mohamed Wafiq
    Editing
  • Hady Mahmoud
    Editing
  • Rami Nedal
    Editing
  • Kareem Boghdady
    Sound
  • Ali Tolpa
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Mohamed Talbeya
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Abdo Shanab
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    فلوكس
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    45 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 15, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Egypt
  • Country of Filming:
    Egypt
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema
  • 73th SALERNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
    Salerno
    Italy
    November 15, 2019
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 15th German (Göttingen) International Ethnographic Film Festival GIEFF 2020
    Göttingen
    Germany
    May 13, 2020
    European Premiere
    Best Student Film Award
  • The BeBop Channel Content Festival
    NY
    United States
    June 8, 2020
    International Premiere
    Postponed Due To COVID-19
  • IREPRESENT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
    Lagos
    Egypt
    March 18, 2020
    South Africa Premier
    Cancelled Due to COVID-19
  • Arkipel - Jakarta International Documentary & Experimental
    Jakarta
    Indonesia
    November 20, 2021
    International Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Goteborg Arab Film Festival
    Goteborg
    Sweden
    October 15, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF)
    California
    United States
    October 9, 2020
    Official Selection
  • ETNOFF - International ethnographic student film festival
    Skopje
    Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
    October 28, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Marbella International Film Festival (MIFF)
    Marbella
    Spain
    November 5, 2020
    Official Selection
  • The Archaeology Channel (TAC) International Film Festival (TAC Festival)
    Oregon
    United States
    June 24, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Days of Ethnographic Film - DEF 2021
    Ljubljana
    Slovenia
    March 4, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Moscow International Festival of Visual Anthropology - MEDIATING CAMERA
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    May 13, 2021
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • LOOP Films
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
    Country: Egypt
Director Biography - Hady Mahmoud

- Back in 1988, Born in Ras Gharib, a small Coast city, in the Red Sea, Egypt, the 90th period was my childhood, watching movies on TV. and encouraged by my father on VHS too, I was a kid Crazy about movies, and Cinema, renting at least 2 VHS daily every day in my summer vacation for years, I always wanted to be a filmmaker.

- In 2005 I studied history for 5 years, then in 2011 joined the Cairo higher cinema institute, in Egypt, to study Film Directing for another 4 years, and since 2014 I worked in the field as Assistant Director in many shorts, one Feature film "Poisonous Roses (2018)", and tons of TV Commercials for international Clients and Agencies in Egypt.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

- Was inspired to shoot this movie By passing by that bus station every day on my way to my film school for 4 years,

-I saw and loved how the place was drawing in chaos, I saw it as beautiful chaos, but also somehow organized too,

- so, inspired by the style of observational documentary filmmakers like Dziga Vertov, Frederick Wiseman, and Jean Rouch, I found myself disconnected from making films full of archive footage, talking heads interviews, and lots of music and songs, that's far away from the kind of documentaries I love and enjoy watching as a cinephile,

I Believe That observational\Cinéma vérité is more strong, real, and much effective on the audience as a style of documentary filmmaking,

- Flox is my debut, I learned a lot and experienced more than I thought by going and discovering this journey, meeting these great humans I met, changing my whole perspective about them, before the movie as a passenger, I was afraid of them, after the movie, they became my friends,

- This's for Masculinity, poverty, and creating a state within a state in order to live in a metropolitan city like Cairo.