Ibrahim El Batout

Ibrahim El Batout, born in Port Said in 1963, got adegree in physics from the American University in Cairo in 1985. He becamefamiliar with video technology while working as a sound engineer at the CairoProduction House, later acquiring skills there as cameraman and director. Since1987 he has served as a war correspondent for numerous international TVstations, and in 2004 he turned to filmmaking. His first film ITHAKI wasfinished in 2005. At least since his feature film AIN SHAMS (2008), el Batouthas been considered one of the pioneers of the new independent auteur cinema inEgypt. Young filmmakers from Alexandria collaborated on HAWI (2010), whichresulted in their own collectively produced fiction film.