Official poster for AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY reaches finals of 2nd Prix Luciole

Egypt Today

29-05-2025

The official poster for Morad Mostafa's AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY — which held a resounding world premiere on May 20th at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and three more well-watched screenings throughout the event — was one of 22 entries that reached the finals of the second edition of Cannes' first independent award celebrating the art of film posters: The Prix Luciole.
Designed by Abanoub Shenouda and Maher Diab, the poster depicts the film's protagonist, Aisha, as she wears a cheap Batman mask on top of her hijab, framing the glaring absurdity within her life and displaying the convergence of cultural forces affecting her livelihood.
AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY received glowing reviews after its Cannes premiere, with Eoghan Lyng of Dirty Movies calling it a 'Filthy genius movie' and Mohamed Tarek of Chroum lauding it as 'a landmark cinematic moment.' Meanwhile, Olivia Popp praised its cinematography, calling it 'visually slick.'
The film follows Aisha, a 26-year-old Sudanese caregiver living in a neighborhood in the heart of Cairo where she witnesses the tension between her fellow African migrants and other groups. Unwittingly, she becomes involved with an Egyptian gang that blackmails her into stealing her patients' keys so that they can rob them.
A co-production between Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Sudan, the film has garnered significant support, including grants from the Doha Film Institute, Cultural Resource Fund, El Gouna Film Festival, Locarno Academy, Cannes' Cinéfondation and La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde, and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. It also notably swept a top award at Red Sea Lodge, five at Venice's Final Cut, as well as the Atlas Award at Marrakech International Film Festival.
The creative team behind AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY features several returning faces from Mostafa's I PROMISE YOU PARADISE, including cinematographer Mostafa El Kashef, who also worked on last year's Cannes entry THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE, which also made its way to Toronto; production designer Eman Elelaby, who earned a FIPRESCI Prize for her work on FEATHERS; costume designer Nayera Eldahshoury; sound engineer Mostafa Shaban; and editor Mohamed Mamdouh.
Produced by Sawsan Yusuf's Bonanza Films, the film is co-produced alongside Dora Bouchoucha and Lina Shaban of Tunisia's Nomadis Images, Sherif Fathy of Shift Studios, Ahmed Amer of A. A. Films, Faisal Baltayour from Cinewaves, Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, May Odeh and Zorana Musikic of Mayana Films, Laura Nikolov of Coorigins, Abellelah Al Ahmary of Arabia Pictures, and associate producer Amjad Abu Alala.
AISHA CAN'T FLY AWAY boasts a stellar cast, with Buliana Simon taking on the lead role of Aisha alongside Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza — in his first feature-length appearance — Emad Ghoniem, and Mamdouh Saleh.