
Directing
Daoud Abdel Sayed
Born 1946-11-23 · Cairo, Egypt
He is an Egyptian director and scriptwriter. He received a bachelor's degree in film directing from the Higher Institute of Cinema in 1967. His ambition in childhood was not to be a film director but he wanted to be a journalist. He started working as an assistant director in some films, Who lost his shadow) to Kamal Sheikh, and (illusions of love) to Mamdouh Shukri. To make social films after his passion for monitoring the city and its people. He presented many of the most important documentary films (The Wise Will of a Wise Man in Village Affairs and Education 1976), (Work in the Field 1979), and (on People, Prophets and Artists 1980). On film, he directed "The Thongs", "The Land of Fear" and "Letters of the Sea".
Acting credits
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The Search for Daoud Abdel Sayed
2026
This autobiographical documentary questions how family films, recreated in studios, become intimate memory sites shaped by transnational identities and rapid socio-political change, erasing personal places and making migration—internal or external—an inevitable result.
Home Movie on Location
2025
Behind the camera
7.1A police officer is chosen in the late 1960s for a unique and lifelong mission: to infiltrate Egypt’s criminal underworld. Stripped of his name and reputation, he adopts a new identity, living among smugglers, dealers, and nightclub owners. Over the years, he rises within this hidden world, all the while trying to balance his secret duty with the temptations of wealth, power, and desire. Against the backdrop of Egypt’s shifting political eras, his life becomes a meditation on morality, loyalty, and the fragile boundaries of identity and biblical-level metaphors.
Land of Fear
2000
7.1A police officer is chosen in the late 1960s for a unique and lifelong mission: to infiltrate Egypt’s criminal underworld. Stripped of his name and reputation, he adopts a new identity, living among smugglers, dealers, and nightclub owners. Over the years, he rises within this hidden world, all the while trying to balance his secret duty with the temptations of wealth, power, and desire. Against the backdrop of Egypt’s shifting political eras, his life becomes a meditation on morality, loyalty, and the fragile boundaries of identity and biblical-level metaphors.
Land of Fear
2000
7.3The film that established Abdel Sayed as a pioneer of New Realism in Egyptian cinema tells the story of two friends who rose from the bottom to the top of society through suspicious dealmaking, in a story full of love, anger, and betrayal.
The Vagabonds
1985
7.3The film that established Abdel Sayed as a pioneer of New Realism in Egyptian cinema tells the story of two friends who rose from the bottom to the top of society through suspicious dealmaking, in a story full of love, anger, and betrayal.
The Vagabonds
1985
7.5Sheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking hash with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house.
Kit Kat
1991
7.5Sheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking hash with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house.
Kit Kat
1991
5.7Selim, a handsome and successful writer triggers an elaborate chain of events when he visits police headquarters to report his car stolen. There he runs into the bumbling Sergeant Fathy Abdel Ghafour, an old family friend who now works as a detective. When the meddlesome Sergeant Fathy insists on hiring a live-in housekeeper for his old friend, Selim’s life becomes inextricably intertwined with that of his beautiful new housemaid, her thieving husband and the well-meaning detective.
A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief
2001
5.7Selim, a handsome and successful writer triggers an elaborate chain of events when he visits police headquarters to report his car stolen. There he runs into the bumbling Sergeant Fathy Abdel Ghafour, an old family friend who now works as a detective. When the meddlesome Sergeant Fathy insists on hiring a live-in housekeeper for his old friend, Selim’s life becomes inextricably intertwined with that of his beautiful new housemaid, her thieving husband and the well-meaning detective.
A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief
2001
7.9A man witnesses the drastic changes in society as he goes back to the Alexandria of his youth.
Messages from the Sea
2010
7.9A man witnesses the drastic changes in society as he goes back to the Alexandria of his youth.
Messages from the Sea
2010
6.8Nargis, a middle-aged woman, is preparing to leave Egypt for the United States to reunite with her grown children, who are mesmerized by the allure of the "Land of Dreams". However, as her departure draws near, she is plagued by deep reluctance and fear of leaving her life and identity behind.
Land of Dreams
1993
9.0The residents of the Mokattam area are in a state of joy. Shata has been married to the dancer (Ahlam), but (Ahlam) has a lover's heart (Awad). In order to resolve the situation, Awad must arrange for the expenses of the marriage within a few days and the introduction of Ahlam's speech. Awad tries to help Awad and thinks that she is overdoing herself. Awad is committing a process closer to armed robbery and stealing his brother's clothes to sell. Ahlam is staying in an apartment of a foreigner to help her boyfriend buy the net.
The Joy thief
1995
NRIn this socio-political short, film director Daoud Abdel Sayed discusses, from a biased perspective, the effects of Free Education on the Egyptian countryside.
The Advice of a Wise Man in Matters of the Village and Education
1976
NRIn this socio-political short, film director Daoud Abdel Sayed discusses, from a biased perspective, the effects of Free Education on the Egyptian countryside.
The Advice of a Wise Man in Matters of the Village and Education
1976
A documentary portrait of Egyptian artist Hassan Soliman, exploring the relationship between artistic creation, manual labor, and the natural world. Through observations of the artist's daily life and work in the countryside, the film reflects on the deep connection between creativity, land, and the human experience.
Working in the Field
1979
6.6When Yehia's scientific investigation of the paranormal yields nothing, he takes a forced vacation from his work and regular life. Wandering aimlessly, he settles in a seaside guest house that is inhabited by a group of quirky characters. As Yehia grows intimate with the owner and close to her charismatic young daughter, he believes he's stumbled across the magic he had sought for so long. It appears that something out of the ordinary seems to exist within them all, and perhaps also within himself.
Out of the Ordinary
2015
6.6When Yehia's scientific investigation of the paranormal yields nothing, he takes a forced vacation from his work and regular life. Wandering aimlessly, he settles in a seaside guest house that is inhabited by a group of quirky characters. As Yehia grows intimate with the owner and close to her charismatic young daughter, he believes he's stumbled across the magic he had sought for so long. It appears that something out of the ordinary seems to exist within them all, and perhaps also within himself.
Out of the Ordinary
2015
6.8Yousef is a naive employee who goes out on his day off to meet strange characters, including a wretch dressed like Charlie Chaplin and Said Marzouq, an eccentric multi-faceted billionaire, full of contradictions and ambiguity. While trying to find himself ,he becomes accused of murder.
The Search for Sayed Marzouk
1991
6.8Yousef is a naive employee who goes out on his day off to meet strange characters, including a wretch dressed like Charlie Chaplin and Said Marzouq, an eccentric multi-faceted billionaire, full of contradictions and ambiguity. While trying to find himself ,he becomes accused of murder.
The Search for Sayed Marzouk
1991
