Mostafa El Kashef
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Throughout his illustrious journey on the global stage, Mostafa El Kashef - a renowned visual artist, producer, and director of photography (DOP) - has lent his creative prowess to 13 cinematic masterpieces that garnered numerous accolades at several prestigious film festivals around the world. Most notably, his debut feature, 19 B, earned him the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 2022 Cairo International Film Festival.
El Kashef first came onto the scene as a DOP on the British-Greek production MODERATION by Anja Kirschner. The film's captivating narrative unfolded across multiple picturesque locations, including Greece, Italy, and Egypt, where El Kashef's expertise as a DOP brought the Egyptian scenes to life. MODERATION eventually held its world premiere at the esteemed 66th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Off to a great start, El Kashef proceeded to work on a series of captivating short films that went on to garner tremendous acclaim at festivals around the globe, including Jaylan Auf's MY FESTIVAL - which was selected to screen at the inaugural edition of the El Gouna Film Festival - and Sharine Atef's JEBEL BANAT, which made its way to the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, won a Student Visionary Award in 2019, and was selected to screen as part of the esteemed Cannes Short Film Corner.
The emergent DOP then collaborated on Yousuf Nouman's THIS IS MY NIGHT, which triumphantly clinched the gold FIFOG at the International Festival of Oriental Film in Geneva and earned El Kashef the Best Cinematography award at Cinemaz Brasil.
El Kashef's breakthrough, however, came in 2021, when he worked on three compelling short films that further established his global renown as an accomplished DOP when they all premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France - Ahmed Abdelsalam's CAI - BER, Morad Mostafa's KHADIJA, and WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT MARYAM.
After their successful premieres, this trio of shorts performed admirably in their respective festival runs, with CAI - BER securing the prestigious Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film at the renowned El Gouna Film Festival, KHADIJA screening at Carthage and El Gouna, and WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT MARYAM earning El Kashef the Best Cinematography Award at the Galichnik Film Festival and participating in several international film festivals, including the London Short and Barcelona International Short Film Festivals, winning a Jury Award in the latter.
El-Kashef then collaborated with Mostafa once again on the short film I PROMISE YOU PARADISE; this time serving as both a cinematographer and co-producer. The short went on to hold its world premiere in the Critics' Week Competition of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Valbonne's Audience Award and Rail d'Or for Best Short Film.
I PROMISE YOU PARADISE also won Best Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival, earned El Kashef seven Best Cinematography awards from the Black Sea Film Festival in Romania, Byron Bay International Film Festival in Australia, Svaneti International Film Festival in Georgia, Mieres Under-60 Film Festival in Spain, Ouaga Côté Court in Burkina Faso, St Andrews Film Festival in Scotland, and Festival dei Lumi in Soriano nel Cimino and was slated to screen at the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) before it was postponed indefinitely.
Most recently, El Kashef finished working on his first feature film - 19 B by Ahmed Abdullah El Sayed - which held its world premiere at the official competition of the 44th CIFF, where it won three awards, including the Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution, which went to El Kashef.
He also wrapped up shooting four short films that are set to premiere soon - Joseph Adel's ENOUGH WATER TO DROWN; Jawaher Alamri's THE LAST DISMISSAL; Rasha Shahin's NAHAR ABER, which was officially selected for the 45th CIFF; and Hind Soheil's PROMISE TO THE SEA - and is currently working on his second feature-length film, THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE, which received a post-production prize from the Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech Film Festival.
Both I PROMISE YOU PARADISE and ENOUGH WATER TO DROWN were produced by his very own production company Qaa'23. Born in Cyprus in 1995, Mostafa El Kashef studied cinematography at EICAR (The International Film and Television School) before returning to Egypt to earn his bachelor's degree in cinematography at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo.
El Kashef's connection to cinema developed early on in his life, as he was influenced by his late father, the renowned director and writer Redwan El Kashef - one of the prominent figures of Egyptian cinema throughout the 80s and 90s. His artistic journey began before he concluded his studies, working as an assistant cinematographer alongside Egypt's top cinematographers, including Nancy Abdel-Fattah and Abdelsalam Moussa on notable works such as the films NEW YEAR'S EVE and CACTUS FLOWER, as well as television series like AFRAH AL QOBA, WAHET EL GHOROUB, and EMBRATOREYET MEEN.
Aside from his work in cinema, El Kashef's portfolio includes a diverse range of commercials that showcase his creativity and technical expertise. These projects include STRUCTURES - a captivating ad that garnered attention and recognition, featuring in the Directors' Library and receiving the prestigious staff pick on Vimeo.
El Kashef also worked on various advertising campaigns, including projects for Vodafone, such as Vodafone's She Talks Campaign featuring Mohamed Salah and ads for Swvl, Talabat, City Club, Cadbury, and Spotify. He also ventured into the world of music by being the cinematographer behind several music videos, including the one for Egypt's top comedy actor Ahmed Helmy's hit song EL HARAKA DEE and famous rapper Aenaba's EL MELOUK, solidifying his mastery of all aspects of his craft
El Kashef first came onto the scene as a DOP on the British-Greek production MODERATION by Anja Kirschner. The film's captivating narrative unfolded across multiple picturesque locations, including Greece, Italy, and Egypt, where El Kashef's expertise as a DOP brought the Egyptian scenes to life. MODERATION eventually held its world premiere at the esteemed 66th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Off to a great start, El Kashef proceeded to work on a series of captivating short films that went on to garner tremendous acclaim at festivals around the globe, including Jaylan Auf's MY FESTIVAL - which was selected to screen at the inaugural edition of the El Gouna Film Festival - and Sharine Atef's JEBEL BANAT, which made its way to the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, won a Student Visionary Award in 2019, and was selected to screen as part of the esteemed Cannes Short Film Corner.
The emergent DOP then collaborated on Yousuf Nouman's THIS IS MY NIGHT, which triumphantly clinched the gold FIFOG at the International Festival of Oriental Film in Geneva and earned El Kashef the Best Cinematography award at Cinemaz Brasil.
El Kashef's breakthrough, however, came in 2021, when he worked on three compelling short films that further established his global renown as an accomplished DOP when they all premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France - Ahmed Abdelsalam's CAI - BER, Morad Mostafa's KHADIJA, and WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT MARYAM.
After their successful premieres, this trio of shorts performed admirably in their respective festival runs, with CAI - BER securing the prestigious Gouna Star for Best Arab Short Film at the renowned El Gouna Film Festival, KHADIJA screening at Carthage and El Gouna, and WHAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT MARYAM earning El Kashef the Best Cinematography Award at the Galichnik Film Festival and participating in several international film festivals, including the London Short and Barcelona International Short Film Festivals, winning a Jury Award in the latter.
El-Kashef then collaborated with Mostafa once again on the short film I PROMISE YOU PARADISE; this time serving as both a cinematographer and co-producer. The short went on to hold its world premiere in the Critics' Week Competition of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Valbonne's Audience Award and Rail d'Or for Best Short Film.
I PROMISE YOU PARADISE also won Best Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival, earned El Kashef seven Best Cinematography awards from the Black Sea Film Festival in Romania, Byron Bay International Film Festival in Australia, Svaneti International Film Festival in Georgia, Mieres Under-60 Film Festival in Spain, Ouaga Côté Court in Burkina Faso, St Andrews Film Festival in Scotland, and Festival dei Lumi in Soriano nel Cimino and was slated to screen at the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) before it was postponed indefinitely.
Most recently, El Kashef finished working on his first feature film - 19 B by Ahmed Abdullah El Sayed - which held its world premiere at the official competition of the 44th CIFF, where it won three awards, including the Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution, which went to El Kashef.
He also wrapped up shooting four short films that are set to premiere soon - Joseph Adel's ENOUGH WATER TO DROWN; Jawaher Alamri's THE LAST DISMISSAL; Rasha Shahin's NAHAR ABER, which was officially selected for the 45th CIFF; and Hind Soheil's PROMISE TO THE SEA - and is currently working on his second feature-length film, THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE, which received a post-production prize from the Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech Film Festival.
Both I PROMISE YOU PARADISE and ENOUGH WATER TO DROWN were produced by his very own production company Qaa'23. Born in Cyprus in 1995, Mostafa El Kashef studied cinematography at EICAR (The International Film and Television School) before returning to Egypt to earn his bachelor's degree in cinematography at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo.
El Kashef's connection to cinema developed early on in his life, as he was influenced by his late father, the renowned director and writer Redwan El Kashef - one of the prominent figures of Egyptian cinema throughout the 80s and 90s. His artistic journey began before he concluded his studies, working as an assistant cinematographer alongside Egypt's top cinematographers, including Nancy Abdel-Fattah and Abdelsalam Moussa on notable works such as the films NEW YEAR'S EVE and CACTUS FLOWER, as well as television series like AFRAH AL QOBA, WAHET EL GHOROUB, and EMBRATOREYET MEEN.
Aside from his work in cinema, El Kashef's portfolio includes a diverse range of commercials that showcase his creativity and technical expertise. These projects include STRUCTURES - a captivating ad that garnered attention and recognition, featuring in the Directors' Library and receiving the prestigious staff pick on Vimeo.
El Kashef also worked on various advertising campaigns, including projects for Vodafone, such as Vodafone's She Talks Campaign featuring Mohamed Salah and ads for Swvl, Talabat, City Club, Cadbury, and Spotify. He also ventured into the world of music by being the cinematographer behind several music videos, including the one for Egypt's top comedy actor Ahmed Helmy's hit song EL HARAKA DEE and famous rapper Aenaba's EL MELOUK, solidifying his mastery of all aspects of his craft
