Egypt Picks Abu Bakr Shawky's 'The Stories' for Oscar Race — SkimNews
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- Egypt selected Abu Bakr Shawky's drama "The Stories" as its entry for the Academy Award for best international feature film, inspired by how Shawky's Egyptian father Ahmed and Austrian mother Liz began their love affair as pen pals in 1967.
- "The Stories" spans from the late 1960s to the 1980s and depicts life in Egypt during that period through the cross-cultural lens that has shaped Shawky's artistic vision, with the film written and directed by Shawky himself.
- "The Stories" stars British-Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry ("The Crown"), Austria's Valerie Pachner ("Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore") and Egyptian star Nelly Karim ("Voy! Voy! Voy!").
- "The Stories" world premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2025, won the Golden Tanit for best film at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, and screened at the Red Sea Film Festival last December.
- Abu Bakr Shawky previously made his international debut with "Yomeddine," which made the Cannes competition cut in 2018, and followed with Saudi-set travel film "Hajjan," which premiered at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival in 2023.
- The Academy will announce the 2027 Oscar shortlist on Dec. 15, with final selection on Jan. 21, and the 99th Academy Awards ceremony scheduled for March 14 in Los Angeles.
Why it matters: Egypt's submission carries real festival pedigree: director Shawky is a Cannes competition veteran, and "The Stories" already has a Golden Tanit for best film at Carthage to its name, making it a competitive entry rather than a token one. The film enters the international feature pipeline at a time when the Academy's shortlist cut is scheduled for Dec. 15, giving it weeks of visibility ahead of the Jan. 21 final selection.
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