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#CairoScene's Impactful Egyptians of 2020 ft. SAMEH ALAA, DIRECTOR OF ‘I’M AFRAID TO FORGET YOUR FACE’ Like so many large-scale events around the world, this year’s Cannes Film Festival was a shadow of its usual self. The pandemic forced the annual extravaganza to forgo its red carpets and its world premieres for a decidedly more low-key outdoor event along the famous Promenade de la Croisette in October, almost sixth months after its usual May date. It made little difference to Egyptian director, Sameh Alaa, who was ecstatic to have his short film, ‘I’m Afraid to Forget Your Face’, nominated in the festival’s short film competition. As he stood on the stage alongside eleven other nominated filmmakers from around the world, struggling to understand the French-speaking host, Alaa had no idea that his life was about to change, that he was about to become the first and only Egyptian to win a Palme d’Or. “I didn’t understand that this was being said,” he recalls. “But then I caught them saying 'Egyptian' and my friends in the audience started shouting and screaming. It’s a moment I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.” The film (called ‘16’ in Arabic) had its world premiere at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival, where it was a universal hit - and Alaa hasn’t looked back since. From London, to Zagreb, to Moscow, the film was lauded from all corners for its enigmatic and emotional portrayal of a 16 year-old boy on a thankless trip to reach his beloved after an 83-day separation. Alaa and his team would go on to pick up another award, this time a little closer to home, at El Gouna Film Festival, book-ending the remarkable three-year journey that went into making the film. A monumental moment for Alaa and independent filmmaking in Egypt as a whole, Alaa still remains grounded. “I was very calm. I remember it very well. I just tried to take it all in and take a photo as a memento.”