Morad Mostafa was born in Cairo in the year of 1988. He routinely worked on. various productions as an assistant director, and he made six widely acclaimed short films between 2012 and 2023. His filthy genius debut feature Aisha Can’t Fly Away premiered earlier this year in Cannes, when we reviewed it exclusively for you. The film describes the asge of “Somalian heroine is stuck in a land full of crime thugs, nasty employers and degradation”, who behaves “much like an ostrich”.

The interview below was conducted in loco during the 22nd Marrakech International Film festival.

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Lida Bach – You‘re here with your first feature film in the Official Competition.

Morad Mostafa – Yes, this is the Middle East of the film.

LB – Your debut feature tells the intense story of a young immigrant woman from the sub-Sahara in Cairo. What made you decide on this specific story as your debut?

MM – I was fascinated by the idea of a young woman living in a quarter called Ain Shams, in the heart of Cairo. This neighbourhood is very difficult. It’s mixed between African migrants and Egyptian gangs.

LB – It’s the neighbourhood that you grew up in, isn’t it?

MM – Yes. I lived there until I was 13 or 14 years old. Then I moved to another place, but was still attached to this neighbourhood. And I think there are many stories there, at this place, that we can tell. Aisha works as a visiting nurse. So every day she goes from house to house to care for her old patients. We are following her in the streets of Cairo.

LB – What drew you to this character?

MM – Well, I did four short films. Two of them were about characters that are African migrants. I asked myself: Why is it that in Egyptian cinema we don’t have any stories about non-Egyptian characters? When I did my first short film, I wanted to tell something new, something from a different point of view of the Egyptian society, through the eyes of non-Egyptian characters. And I continued with this approach in my first feature film.

LB – You combine a number of genres. The story is part drama, part crime, and there are also elements of body horror and surrealism. How did you bring all these aspects together?

MM – To be honest, there are many migrant stories in the cinema, set in France, in Brazil, in the United States. So I was thinking: How can I tell a new story about an African migrant? Magical realism was interesting for me because it is different from just social drama: The film starts out like a social drama but little by little it dives into magical realism. From there, it moves between genres.

LB – How did you connect to the female experience centred in the film? Did you do a lot of research or is it based on people you know?

MM – Actually, it all started when I was in a public bus in Cairo and beside me was an African migrant girl. She was sound asleep for a while. Then suddenly she wakes up screaming and crying, scaring all the passengers on the bus. The bus stopped and the left immediately, without leaving any clue regarding the reason for her sudden panic. That got me thinking about life in Cairo. Cairo is a very tough city, with lot of inhabitants. So I asked myself: How does it treat strangers? During the casting process, I met many girls and talked with them about the character. I incorporated many things they said. This was the research for the film for me. It’s actual emotions.

LB – Did you shoot the film in the same quarter that you grew up in and that the story takes place in?

MM – It’s in the neighbourhood next to it, as it was difficult to shoot there. We shot in an area that‘s very similar. In fact, it’s the same district.

LB – How do the themes of migration and social inequality reflect on today’s Egyptian society? You already mentioned that this is a story that people don’t normally see on the Egyptian screen.

MM – Yes, but even though the style is mostly realistic, this society in the film is not the actual one. I wanted to create a dystopia. It’s like Ghost in the Shell [Rupert Sanders, 2017] or The Dark Knight [Christopher Nolan, 2008]. These worlds are closer to the film world than the actual society.

LB – You have this metaphor of the bird that takes several shapes. There are also body horror elements when feathers seem to grow out of Aisha’s body – as if she herself would transform into a bird. What does this metaphor mean for you?

MM – The ostrich is a native African bird. She’s living in African lands. Also, the quarter she lives in was once called “land of ostriches“. Many, many years ago, there were lots of ostrich farms. Hence the name. It‘s also one of the very few birds who can‘t fly. It’s as if it would belong and at the same time not belong to the birds. It‘s similar to Aisha, who belongs to her community but doesn’t belong at the same time. She exists among them, but she feels she’s not quite the same as them. Alienation.

LB – How did you move through the casting process? You cast an unknown in the lead, but you also cast rapper Ziad Zaza, in a supporting role.

MM – The casting took about five months. And then rehearsals. Regarding Ziad Zaza, it’s the second time in a film for him. He did just one short before this one.

LB – Are there films or specific artists that inspire you and the visual style of your work?

MM – As for the visual style, I want to shoot with a handheld camera and work with non-professional actors. All the actors in the film are non-professionals. There are real locations. I wanted to make it rough, you know? It’s fitting for this kind of stiry. I also use the same crew, the same DOP, and the same editor as in the beginning. They started out with me on the very first short. We just continued what we started.

LB – If people see your story on the screen, what do you hope they will take away from it?

MM – To say it in one word: For me, this is a film about control. If an original population lives in a place, and another population gets bigger and bigger, the first conflict that arises is about control. Not about issues like racism or who is white, who is black. It’s about who will control this place. This is the main reason for war.

LB – Are you working on any new projects?

MM – Yes, my second feature film is in development now. The project started in Angola last month and it will be in Rotterdam in February, for CineMart.

LB – You have been at Cannes and now you’re at Marrakesh. Do you have a favourite film festival, and what is it that makes Marrakesh special for you?

MM – I think Marrakesh is the most important one now in the region. It’s big! And it’s even become bigger and bigger. It’s very organised. And the public and the audience are amazing! It feels like it’s an a-list festival.

LB – Thank you so much for this interview!

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Morad Mostafa is pictured at the top of this interview (by MIFF DR). The other image is a still from Aisha Can’t Fly Away.