Khaled Khella shows hidden strugglesCEFR B1
10 Jul 2025
Adapted from Fatma Al-Zahraa Badawy, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Lisa Marie Theck, Unsplash
Khaled Khella has built a reputation for showing the hidden struggles of his generation. Born in 1992 in Helwan, south of Cairo, he began with videos for social media and moved on to short films that look at desire, power and everyday survival in city life.
His first international recognition came with the three‑minute short "Dunya wa Akhira" ("Life and the Afterlife"). The film presents a young man torn between chasing a thief who stole his phone and answering the mosque's call to prayer, and it screened at festivals in Australia, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands and Greece.
He then made "The Landlord", a psychological drama about harassment by a person in power, working with actress Hagar El Sarrag to build a tense sense of safety and dignity at home. In 2017 he produced "Egyptian Misery" for about 3,000 Egyptian pounds (roughly USD 175 at the time). Based on anonymous confessions from a Facebook page, he reviewed thirty stories, chose four to dramatize and cast mostly non‑professional actors to keep reactions natural.
Audience response was mixed; some recognised themselves in the scenes, others rejected the film. Khella says the suffering he shows may persist because many do not see it as a problem. He also faces practical challenges such as securing permits for street scenes and persuading teams to work without pay.
Difficult words
- reputation — general opinion people have about someone
- desire — a strong feeling of wanting something
- harassment — unwanted behavior that harms or scares someone
- anonymous — made or given without a name attached
- dramatize — turn a real story into a staged scene
- permit — official permission to do something in publicpermits
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think using non-professional actors makes a film feel more natural? Why or why not?
- Which hidden problems of city life would you like filmmakers to show in your city? Give one example and explain.
- If you made a short street film with little money, what practical problems would you expect to face and how would you try to solve them?
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