Ahmed Hatem to Headline Film "Shagle Eial"
Yara Sameh
Egyptian actor Ahmed Hatem has signed on to star in the film "Shagle Eial" from director Yahya Ismail.
Principal photography is set to commence at the end of the year.
Hatem made his last appearance on the big screen in the 2024 film "Ashek".
The cast also includes Asma Abulyazeid, Mohsen Mohiedine, Karim Kassem, and more. It is scripted by Mahmoud Zahran and directed by Amro Salah.
"Ashek" marks the second collaboration between Hatem and Abulyazeid after the 2021 star-studded film '
Qamar 14
' (Full Moon).
It also witnesses Abulyazeid's comeback to the big screen after an absence of one year. She made her last appearance in the 2023 film "
El Ameel Sefr
."
Hatem, born on December 25, 1987, made his acting debut in the 2006 film "Awqat Faragh".
Other notable film credits include "El Kenz" (2017), "El Haram El Rabea" (2016), "Qeset Hob" (2019), "El Ghassala" (2020), "Arousty" (2021), and "Qamar 14" (2022).
He is best known for his roles in TV productions "Vertigo" (2012), "Al-Sayyeda Al-Oula" (2014), "Ibn Halal" (2014), "Hawary Bucharest" (2015), "Haret El Yahoud" (2015), "Fo'k Mostawa Elshobohat" (2016), "Halawt Al-Dunia" (2017), "Ladina Aqwal Okhra" (2018), "Rasael" (2018), "One Block Behind" (2018), "Hekayti" (2019), "Leh Laa 2" (2021), "Shaqah 6" (2021), and "Ana W Heya" (2022).
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And the sector isn't done yet. According to AdMazad, Egypt's leading out-of-home (OOH) advertising performance measurement company, total impressions reached 154.2 billion last year, largely concentrated in Cairo's arterial roads and desert-ringed satellite cities. In some places, there is now more advertising space than visible sky. 'Billboards are a steady source of revenue,' Assem Memon, CEO of AdMazad, an Egyptian agency dedicated to tracking and analysing thousands of billboards across the country to measure their performance, tells CairoScene. 'Local authorities and municipalities rely on them to generate cashflow.' Egypt has turned its cities into a showroom, and its streets into a psychology experiment. But I'm here to make a case for – as well as against – the perpetual billboard. And that starts at the beginning. The idea for billboards began slowly in Egypt. First, as movie posters, as Nasserist propaganda promising Pan-Arabist heaven, cupping therapy offers, cure-all creams, and home exorcisms available – if you call now. Then as static signs hawking juice brands or local banks. Then came vinyl real estate giants along 6 October Bridge, animated LEDs near Nasr City, 3D billboards looming overhead. The number of OOH advertisers rose 23% year-on-year to 17,000, while the number of billboards increased 26.6% year-on-year to 40,000, according to Enterprise and AdMazad. It is clear that billboards in Egypt are more than visual noise, they're a critical financial artery for the country's urban fabric. Advertisers pay a concession fee just to rent the land, and when they build according to regulation, they also pay an annual licensing fee. 'As new roads open up, so do opportunities for billboard placements, Memon explains. 'But when it comes to premium visibility, 6th October and Tagamoa lead the pack. Today, renting a billboard in 6th October costs around 500,000 EGP per month, while the same space in Tagamoa can go for EGP 1 million.' But what's most striking, Memon notes, is Egypt's advertising imbalance. 'In other emerging markets like Pakistan, Morocco, or Malaysia, real estate usually ranks sixth or seventh in terms of billboard ad share.'In most countries, consumer goods, telecoms, banks, pharmacies, and cafés dominate OOH budgets. 'Here in Egypt,' Memon continues, 'real estate is number one—by far.' 'Real estate alone now accounts for 60% of OOH market share in Egypt, with advertising spend in the sector jumping 85% in a single year,' Engy Elmasry, Account Manager at Seven, tells CairoScene. These figures are based on AdMazad's audit of over 50,000 billboards across Egypt, reflecting the sector's dominance in the OOH advertising landscape. 'These aren't billboards,' Elmasry says. 'They're mood boards. We're selling escape, not space.' 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Billboards in older Cairo are vanishing, even though most Egyptians still live there. The consequences go beyond visibility. 'Imagine running a small shoe brand,' Memon says. 'You can't afford a single board in New Cairo or 6 October. The new outdoor inventory is primarily designed for real estate and mega advertisers. The unintended consequence of this is the limitation of advertising opportunities for smaller brands.' If billboard access were more equitable, Memon argues, it wouldn't just benefit small businesses—it would expand the industry as a whole. 'When different businesses at different maturity stages can access outdoor ads, you unlock new verticals. It's not about shrinking the real estate footprint—it's about sharing the skyline.' The challenge is ensuring that billboards don't morph into 'a visual zoo,' in Memon's words. His vision? 'Stronger regulation. One billboard every 500 metres. Limit the number of formats per zone. 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