Crafting Art in
Motion Picture

Most motion picture enthusiasts have seen many films and TV ads, but only few have a deep understanding of the art behind their production. Two creatives with two different backgrounds in art direction and filmmaking will take us through the craft of making ads from prop-making to set design, while discussing the vision, collaborations and manufacturing processes behind it all.

Speaker: Ahmed Hefnawy, an illustrator, product and graphic designer, sculptor, and collector, is a man of many talents that may be summarized as being the founder of Cairopolitan. As soon as he graduated from fine arts in 2000, Hefnawy ventured into the advertising field, where he worked at Leo Burnett as a storyboard illustrator, art director, graphic designer, and creative – offering new concepts and ideas while freelancing in model making and special effects. In 2006, the idea of founding Cairopolitan, a design-based store and gallery, began to grow – combining his art and design background with the experience he gained from his years of work. Hefnawy took part in several group exhibitions, including "The Mediterranean Triennial” in 1997, "Horreya” in Helsinki and Cairo in 2013, and "Inktober” by Medrar in 2016.

Speaker: Nader Elnakoury, a self-taught filmmaker, explored making stop-motion, short films and commercials from a young age as he watched a variety of movies while critically observing different shooting techniques and acting schools. At the age of 17, Elnakoury participated in what would be a turning point in his professional career, an assistant director trainee in a “BBC world” film. By the age of 21, he had directed his first TV commercial and decided to focus on building his own style through storytelling, cinematography and image crafting. To date, he produced a myriad of TV commercials in the region and beyond as well as contributed to various movies and TV series as a second unit director. Elnakoury has received several awards, most notably the Mena Cristal Award and the Mena Effie Award. While carrying out his passion for directing commercials for almost 14 years, Elnakoury is now looking to make an even greater impact in the filmmaking industry through his first feature film.