David Degner » Photographer

Cairo Exit, making of the movie

As Cairo Exit has continued to make headlines as it Premier’s in Dubai these, and many more photos from the filming of Cairo Exit are still unpublished and available. Contact me at the email below.

Jeffrey Fleishman first wrote about “Cairo Exit” the movie, in the LATimes, and I stumbled across it in my Egyptian film industry project.

Egyptian American director Hesham Issawi and his skeletal crew continue filming “Cairo Exit” on the streets of Egypt without a permit.   Egypt’s Ministry of Interior halted the production of the love story in April citing national security concerns.

To continue filming they bribed police officers, used back streets, and filmed the most difficult scenes involving police men, which is highly illegal without a permit, during the final game of the World Cup.

The plot isn’t overtly political and is described as a love story between a  Christian girl, Koki El-newishy,  and her forbidden Muslim boyfriend, Mohamed Ramadan, crossing the line of strict religious segregation and tolerance.

The censor cited the depiction of a Christian girl, as pregnant with her Muslim lover’s child as the reason for canceling it’s film permits.