THE EGYPTIAN

America has always promoted itself as having the great American dream that would make everyone's dreams come true. This dazzled many young Egyptians and families and encouraged them to emigrate to America, convinced that it is the way to achieve their dreams and live a comfortable life forever, just because of its strong economy and strong currency, and therefore there are many stories of Egyptians there because of each person’s pursuit of a different dream. What attracted me to tackle this idea was hearing stories from my family members and friends about people who immigrated to America and their lives there, and at that time my mind was opened to see the extent of the difference between the feelings and ideas of immigrants in America and between the Egyptians who wish to emigrate and the imaginary world that they draw for their lives in America without thinking about the social and cultural obstacles that may face them and the completely different life in America

The interesting thing was that I heard stories from Egyptians in America about the hard times they face, their sense of loneliness, and the difference of many feelings from their presence in Egypt, despite the success of some in realizing their dreams and their financial stability, and despite their constant attempts to create a society for Egyptians in America. The idea of settling in America forever was not part of their plans, unlike the second generation of Egyptians who were born in America and lived their entire lives in America and consider it as their mother country.

One of the things that I felt strongly about in Ya Masri is that I wanted to make a film that allows the audience to feel what I felt when I listened to the stories of immigrants in America and lived among them for a while, and saw how their social life, work, and relations with people in America proceeded, and the extent of the difference between the feelings of the first generation of immigrants at an old age and the second generation who was born there.

It was important for me to maintain the balance between their nostalgia for Egypt, their suffering in America and their successes and financial stability and their attempt to compensate for the feeling of alienation by having gatherings among them was something I dealt with a lot. The shifting tones between sadness and happiness, anxiety and homesickness were things I sought, trying to keep the film both deep and surprising.

To that end, I used all sorts of methods and found myself inventing things along the way. I tried to present that sense of homesickness, through the stories of the people and show some of their memories of the past. I also worked a lot on sounds and music and the interaction of these elements, and I saw that the idea of mixing the feelings of the immigrant generation to achieve a dream and the generation that was born in America is a better idea to present this movie. This was a real challenge and I hope the audience will find it satisfying and would be able to delve into the different stories and dreams.