Nour Zaki
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Nour is an award winning filmmaker based between Cairo, London, and Los Angeles. An MFA graduate, Nour is famous for using modern western cinematic techniques to tell stories about the Middle East struggle, Arab spring, and Arab heritage. Nour won his first award at the 2014 Woman's Voices film festival in Hollywood.
Early Life
Nour was born in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis to a businessman and a journalist. He was a single child and was raised by his mother. At age 8 she started noticing his fascination with film and the process of filmmaking. While she was interviewing writer/director Raafat El Myhy about his new film academy at Studio Gallal, she mentioned her son's interest in film so he requested to see him. A week later, and after spending 3 hours discussing film with Nour, Raafat decided to enroll Nour in the directors program at the Film Science & Technology Academy. At age 13 Nour was his youngest student.
Filmmaking
While studying for his Bachelors of Mass Communication from the University of Wales Prifysgol Cymru, Nour directed his first short film, "The Chase", Based on Nageeb Mahfouz's "Rawa we Skyna" novel. The film served as his Bachelor's thesis project. Shortly after graduation Nour traveled to Los Angeles and started a one year conservatory film program at the New York Film Academy in Universal Studios where he directed his second film, "Not Yielded but conquered". The film was highly praised as it focused on themes such as journalistic ethics and the Egyptian political and social arena in the time of the Muslim Brotherhood. After watching the film a number of his teachers recommended him for the Master's program at the academy which secured him a grant. He got his MFA in film in 2014. His MFA thesis was "A Chronicle of Tahrir Square". The movie follows the story of a young girl trying to save her father during the violent clashes of the 2nd of February 2011 in Tahrir square, known to the media as "the battle of the camel". The movie was a big production, involving an international cast and was filmed between Los Angeles and Cairo. It won the 3rd prize at the Women's Voices Now film festival in 2014.
In 2014 he did a few projects including serving as a producer for his friend and writing partner, Leonardo Garcia, on his film "Afraid of heights" and a second unit director for Vincent Blake's music video "Muhamed Ali"
In 2014, Zaki served as a producer for his friend and writing partner, Leonardo Garcia, on his film "Afraid of heights" and a second unit director for Vincent Blake's music video "Muhamed Ali". From 2013 till late 2014 he worked as a director and a producer on the AppAdvice daily show with Robin Rhys.
In 2015, Zaki moved back to Egypt. His first project was "Camera Obscura", a film about Alhazen's discovery of light and subsequently the invention of the camera. It starred and was produced by the Egyptian Khaled Abol Naga in the role of Alhazen. The film is currently in the festival circuit and has been nominated for a few awards including The Boston Global Film Festival.[2] It also served as the symbol for the Visionaria film festival in Milan. Khaled Abol Naga's involvement in the project along with the subject matter gave the film media attention in the Middle East with Khaled expressing his desire to turn it into a feature film.
Zaki collaborated with Amr Waked, directing the commercial campaign for RSM Egypt's 20th anniversary.
In 2017 Nour produced and directed The #HEFOR SHE campaign under the umbrella of UN Women for the Arab reign featuring multiple celebrities including (writer and poet Medhat el Adl, international actors Zafer El Abedeen and Monzer Ryhana, football player Hazem Imamm, film director Hany Khalyfa, and many others) and gaining substantial media attention.
Also in Ramadan 2017 Nour assisted Medhat EL Adl in writing the acclaimed TV series LE Aala Se'r starring Nelly Kareem , Ahmed Fahmy, and Zeina and produced by the adl group, marking Nour's first endeavor in Arab TV.
Early Life
Nour was born in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis to a businessman and a journalist. He was a single child and was raised by his mother. At age 8 she started noticing his fascination with film and the process of filmmaking. While she was interviewing writer/director Raafat El Myhy about his new film academy at Studio Gallal, she mentioned her son's interest in film so he requested to see him. A week later, and after spending 3 hours discussing film with Nour, Raafat decided to enroll Nour in the directors program at the Film Science & Technology Academy. At age 13 Nour was his youngest student.
Filmmaking
While studying for his Bachelors of Mass Communication from the University of Wales Prifysgol Cymru, Nour directed his first short film, "The Chase", Based on Nageeb Mahfouz's "Rawa we Skyna" novel. The film served as his Bachelor's thesis project. Shortly after graduation Nour traveled to Los Angeles and started a one year conservatory film program at the New York Film Academy in Universal Studios where he directed his second film, "Not Yielded but conquered". The film was highly praised as it focused on themes such as journalistic ethics and the Egyptian political and social arena in the time of the Muslim Brotherhood. After watching the film a number of his teachers recommended him for the Master's program at the academy which secured him a grant. He got his MFA in film in 2014. His MFA thesis was "A Chronicle of Tahrir Square". The movie follows the story of a young girl trying to save her father during the violent clashes of the 2nd of February 2011 in Tahrir square, known to the media as "the battle of the camel". The movie was a big production, involving an international cast and was filmed between Los Angeles and Cairo. It won the 3rd prize at the Women's Voices Now film festival in 2014.
In 2014 he did a few projects including serving as a producer for his friend and writing partner, Leonardo Garcia, on his film "Afraid of heights" and a second unit director for Vincent Blake's music video "Muhamed Ali"
In 2014, Zaki served as a producer for his friend and writing partner, Leonardo Garcia, on his film "Afraid of heights" and a second unit director for Vincent Blake's music video "Muhamed Ali". From 2013 till late 2014 he worked as a director and a producer on the AppAdvice daily show with Robin Rhys.
In 2015, Zaki moved back to Egypt. His first project was "Camera Obscura", a film about Alhazen's discovery of light and subsequently the invention of the camera. It starred and was produced by the Egyptian Khaled Abol Naga in the role of Alhazen. The film is currently in the festival circuit and has been nominated for a few awards including The Boston Global Film Festival.[2] It also served as the symbol for the Visionaria film festival in Milan. Khaled Abol Naga's involvement in the project along with the subject matter gave the film media attention in the Middle East with Khaled expressing his desire to turn it into a feature film.
Zaki collaborated with Amr Waked, directing the commercial campaign for RSM Egypt's 20th anniversary.
In 2017 Nour produced and directed The #HEFOR SHE campaign under the umbrella of UN Women for the Arab reign featuring multiple celebrities including (writer and poet Medhat el Adl, international actors Zafer El Abedeen and Monzer Ryhana, football player Hazem Imamm, film director Hany Khalyfa, and many others) and gaining substantial media attention.
Also in Ramadan 2017 Nour assisted Medhat EL Adl in writing the acclaimed TV series LE Aala Se'r starring Nelly Kareem , Ahmed Fahmy, and Zeina and produced by the adl group, marking Nour's first endeavor in Arab TV.