Amr Salama Talks Dream Projects, His Paused Amazon Series, Paranormal 2 and More (EXCLUSIVE)

If there’s one Arab director who truly shaped me, aside from Daoud Abdel Sayed, it’s Amr Salama. Not only because of his films (he directed Asmaa, one of my all-time favorite films), but because I learned so much from him as a person. He has always spoken with the intention of helping young, aspiring filmmakers who are struggling to take their first steps.

I always looked forward to him, his work and everything he chose to do. Even as I grew older and found myself drifting away from the same passion I once had for his films, leaning more toward horror and experimental cinema, my respect for him never faded. He is one of the hardest-working people I’ve had the chance to speak with.

At times, it felt like we were interviewing each other. We talked about almost everything, and I can’t wait to see him continue to shine.

When you make a film, what’s your mindset? Do you think, “I want to make a movie that reaches the Oscars,” or is it more, “I just want to express myself”?

With every film you make, you go to bed at night dreaming of having all the awards in the world, box-office success, and critics loving it. Your mother will love it, your neighbor will love it, and people will stop you in the street to tell you how much they loved it.

Like every film you make, every project I make, you have these big dreams that it’s going to break records everywhere. And to be honest, that’s not why I choose to make a film.

I choose to make a film when it speaks to me, or when I feel there’s a challenge that excites me and makes me want to take on the project. That challenge could be related to the subject of the film, the way it’s told, the storytelling approach, the visual style, the comedy, or anything else.

I love projects that challenge me.

Some people say you’re too influenced by international directors and that affects your films negatively. What would you say to that?

I think when I was younger, I was more influenced by a few directors, that’s true. It’s normal for any filmmaker: with each project, you start discovering your own style and your own voice. At the beginning, those influences are easier to spot. But as I get older, I feel less influenced and more confident in my own voice and style.

Of course, I was influenced by directors I love, and most of them weren’t Egyptian. When I was younger, there were maybe five or six directors who really shaped me, only one of them was Egyptian, the rest were not. That’s normal: you’re influenced by the things you love. I think that influence was more visible in my earlier work. Now, as I grow older and make more projects, I feel less influenced by what I watch and more influenced by what I experience.

And no, I’m not ashamed of it at all, and I don’t see it as a negative thing. I think it was a tribute to the kind of cinema I truly loved. I loved it deeply, and I was inspired by directors from all over the world.

Which directors have influenced your work?

I never liked it when people said my work was “too American,” I was also influenced by Béla Tarr. I was influenced by Iñárritu, who is Mexican, Park Chan-wook, who is Korean, and Alejandro Amenábar, who is Spanish. Wes Anderson as well, American, yeah.

Those are the directors I remember from when I started making films; they were the ones who really influenced me the most. So yeah, I don’t think it’s a negative thing at all. I’m grateful to those directors, because they helped me discover cinema and find my way into filmmaking.

Was your shift, from sadder and more "art house" projects like "Asmaa" and "Sheikh Jackson" to more crowd pleasing works like "Bimbo", "Paranormal" and "Fireworks", intentional or not?

I’m a person who gets bored easily, so I like to challenge myself with new genres. If you look at my filmography, you’ll see that I don’t stick to a single genre, direction, storytelling style, or visual style. With each project, I try to push myself into new territory and experiment with different kinds of projects.

What turns me off a project is feeling like I’ve done something similar before. I’ve never considered myself strictly an art-house director or a commercial director. I always want to work on the project that speaks to me at the moment, something that challenges me and makes me feel like I’m doing something I haven’t done before. It’s about matching the project to my mood, state of mind, and the feelings or thoughts I’m experiencing at the time.

Looking back, do you think this helped or hurt you as a director?

I remember my American agent once told me, “You’re a very hard director to sell because this doesn’t usually happen in the States. There, if you’re a thriller director, they expect you to stick to thrillers. If you do comedy, they’ll sell you as a comedy director. But your filmography is so diverse that it’s hard to label you. I can’t put a tag on you.”

I actually see that as a blessing. Throughout my career, I’ve been able to explore so many different journeys and directions.

In the past few years, we’ve seen more Egyptian films going to Cannes and Venice. Have you watched any of them? And why do you think those films made it to these festivals, was it simply because they were good?

I think most of them are really good films. Still, I can’t deny that big festivals always have an agenda or a certain direction when selecting films. For example, they tend to favor films about big subjects that feel relevant to what’s happening in the world. They also make sure the film aligns with the confirmation biases they might have about our country or region. So if you send them a film about people living in a compound, they probably won’t be very interested. Similarly, if the film isn’t about a hot topic in the global spotlight, it may not get much attention.

That said, I do think the films that were selected are really good, most of them, at least. I loved Feathers, and Happy Birthday is my favorite from this year. They are genuinely excellent films. But again, festivals always have a certain direction or preference; they want films they feel are relevant.

As for the Oscars, it’s based on so many voters, so it really depends on the sentiment and impression of the voters. Most of the voters, at least until now, are older Americans, so of course they have certain tastes and biases.

How do you view the Egyptian film industry today? Is it better than in previous years, and what has changed since you first started directing?

I’ve been in this business for more than 20 years, so I can say there have been a lot of ups and downs. But I think right now we’re in an upward phase. I’m actually optimistic, I think we’re in a good place at the moment.

We’re making more films than we did ten years ago, and I think the films being made now are more diverse. Even the audience is more diverse. You see films like El Harreefa making good money without relying on A-list stars. You see films doing very well even when they’re just dramas or female-led films. You see ensemble films making money, and you see comedies succeeding as well.

So I think we’re in a much better place than we were before, and honestly, I feel optimistic and happy about where the cinema industry is right now.

What concerns you most about the industry today?

The people who can really afford to buy movie tickets today are mostly those living in compounds, or audiences in wealthier countries like Saudi Arabia or the UAE. If those are the main moviegoers, then filmmakers are pushed to make films that cater specifically to that audience.

As a result, you see fewer authentic stories that truly tackle important subjects, because that kind of audience may not have an appetite for those films. I feel like we’re now in an era of making films that don’t upset anyone.

That’s why you see so many films over the past years focused on comedy and family dramas, stories about families discovering that one of their members is involved in crime, or that a fiancé, an ex-husband, or a father turns out to be a gang member. These kinds of films don’t upset anyone. They’re safe, comedic films. And honestly, I don’t mind them, some of them I really enjoyed.

But today, we see far fewer films in the vein of Mohamed Khan, Atef El Tayeb, or Daoud Abdel Sayed. The compound moviegoer, or the Saudi or Emirati audience, doesn’t necessarily have an appetite for this kind of cinema. They might watch these films later on art-house platforms or online, but they’re unlikely to go to the cinema for them, which means they don’t generate box office revenue.

Still, I’m hopeful. There are exceptions, like Flight 404 or Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo. And I believe we’ll see more grassroots stories emerging, films rooted in the lived realities of ordinary Egyptians.

How do you think this impacts the Egyptian cinema industry?

It’s a big economic problem. How many families in Egypt, in Cairo, not even in the smaller cities, can really afford to pay 1,000 pounds for just two hours at the cinema?

If you’re a family of four, and each ticket costs 150 pounds, that’s already 600 pounds. If you add snacks or food for all four, it quickly reaches around 1,000 pounds. So how many families can spend that much for just two hours of entertainment? For about 95% of Egyptians, that’s very expensive.

Outside of Cairo and Alexandria, it’s very hard to sustain a cinema business because there simply aren’t enough moviegoers willing to pay those prices. Running a theater requires a lot of investment, and it often doesn’t make money.

I’ve had this conversation many times with distributors, and it’s always the same problem. Smaller cities don’t have the economic power to support families going to see films. And families are the biggest audience for making a film financially successful.

It feels like America is similar: a film is labeled as “in theaters,” yet the closest cinema playing it can be three hours away.

For the American audience, they have the economic power, and they have the art-house cinemas. Every film lover knows the nearest art-house theater where they can find this kind of film.

But as an example, the A24 business model isn’t based solely on making money in theaters. They have a smarter way of financing films and generating revenue from them. They know how to sell a film effectively, create a strong lineup, and plan their releases strategically every year.

For example, if they produce 12 films in a year, they know that at least two of them will make enough money to cover the costs of the others. This approach is something we could potentially apply here as well.

Is there still a monopoly in the industry, or has it evolved into something different?

Yeah, the monopoly. I remember there was a time when the industry was tightly controlled, there were only two places you could go if you wanted to make a film. But now, the cinema industry is much less monopolized. Many young producers can actually make films and succeed financially without the backing of a big distributor.

I remember spending the first ten years of my career knowing that if those two places said no to your film, most likely you couldn’t make it. Now, there’s a much more diverse group of producers, and the market is freer. You can make projects independently and still find success.

What is your favorite horror film from the last 10 years?

I’ll tell you, if I list my favorite horror films, you’ll notice that most of them weren’t made by horror directors. I love directors who aren’t primarily horror filmmakers. I love The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, who isn’t a horror director in the strict sense. I love the Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters, which was also made by a director who isn’t known mainly for horror.

I also love What Lies Beneath, an older film that I really loved when I was younger, it wasn’t made by a horror director either. So I actually think horror often works better when it’s made by directors outside the genre. They focus on the story and the characters first, and then add the scares, the jump moments on top, which makes the film much more effective.

I love Spanish films as well, many of which aren’t made by traditional horror directors. There’s one film in particular that I really love.

In the last ten years, though, I don’t think I’ve been truly blown away by many horror films, except maybe Hereditary.

How do you view the horror genre? Is it just fun movies or more than that?

As for horror films that really scared me, that hasn’t happened recently. Maybe it’s because I got older; I don’t know. I remember when I was younger, it was much easier to scare me. I remember watching Japanese horror films when I was younger, they really messed me up, especially the original Ring and the original Ju-On.

But anyhow, I think it has to do with age. When I was younger, maybe in my twenties, I was a much bigger fan of horror films than I am now. I think it’s interesting because now I can really tell when a jump scare is coming; I can predict where the film is going. The films that truly surprise me are the ones that really affect me.

Of course, one of my favorite directors when I was younger was M. Night Shyamalan. I was really influenced by him. When I was younger, I loved The Sixth Sense, The Village, and even some of his less successful films, I was in love with them.

Basically, that’s why I love The Shining and a few others, they’re my favorite horror films. Still, they’re more drama than horror. They have amazing visuals and character-driven stories, and that’s what makes me love them.

Have you ever thought about making a horror film?

Nowadays, horror films are often directed by TV or series directors, and it’s hard to find funding to produce them. The problem in Hollywood over the last 15 years is that there’s almost no space for medium-budget films anymore. You either do something like Avengers or something very low budget like Get Out.

The best films from the ’80s and ’90s were often medium-budget films, but now studios don’t really want to invest in $100 million films that aren’t superhero movies. That’s why there’s a lack of medium-budget films today.

Horror films, however, are an exception. You can make a very good horror movie for less than a million dollars in the U.S., which is considered almost no budget. So many directors who want to start their careers find ways to make their first films through horror, because that’s where the money and opportunity are right now. That’s why a lot of serious directors end up going into horror.

Have you ever thought about a character’s destiny years after your film was already made?

No, not really. I deal with my films the way I deal with my exes, a film is like an ex. Once you’re done with it, you don’t want to remember it too much. You want to get over it and move on to a new project, dedicating yourself fully to what comes next. So once a project is behind me, it’s behind me. It becomes a memory, and I don’t really think about my past projects that much.

Did you receive any offers for international projects?

Yeah, many times. I’ve come very close, actually, more than once, to starting an international project. Right now, I’m working on an international film based on a true story about an Egyptian girl, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it becomes a reality. It’s planned to be shot in the UK and the States, and I’m collaborating with an international producer, so hopefully it will happen one day.

Could you tell us more about the project, who’s producing it?

I really can’t say much for now, but hopefully soon I’ll be able to announce the production company and share more about the story. It’s a very inspiring tale that I first heard about 15 years ago, about an Egyptian woman entrepreneur in the States. I really want to make that film someday.

A dream film you still haven't made?

I have a lot of dreams in my inventory of ideas. I have many projects that are dream projects, and I would love to make any one of them.

I worked on one of them for many, many years, and I signed it with Amazon Prime. I was going to make it with Amazon Prime. At first, I wanted to make it as a film, then I decided to turn it into a series. We worked on it for two years with Amazon Prime, and they were going to produce it. But then they decided to pause all production in the Middle East before we even started the project.

It’s one of my dream projects. It’s called The Iden, and it’s a sci-fi action project. This is one of the projects closest to my heart. I hope I can make it one day. It’s a very ambitious project, but I can’t really talk about what it’s about until I’m closer to making it.

I also have other projects. I hope to continue Paranormal soon, and there’s hope that we might be able to work on that project again in the near future. Inshallah.

So Paranormal wasn't a limited series?

No, I have plans for it in the near future. Inshallah, it’s one of my baby projects. It’s one of my babies.

Are you a fan of sci-fi? You mentioned that you worked on a sci-fi project that’s a dream project for you.

To tell you the truth, I’m not a big fan of sci-fi. I love a couple of sci-fi films, but overall, it’s probably my least favorite genre.

That said, this project specifically couldn’t be told in any other way than as sci-fi, which is why I decided to go in that direction. And because I love the project, I watched a lot of sci-fi films while working on it.

But it’s more the kind of sci-fi like The Matrix, the type you can believe in, that’s grounded in some form of reality and carries a political undertone.

I saw in your IG stories that you’re writing a new film based on a true story, can you tell me more about it?

It's also one of my dream projects. It's a drama based on a true story, a biopic inspired by two real events. It’s very close to me, and I’ve wanted to tell this story for years. I’ve finally finished my first draft, and I’m very happy with it.

You are a member of the academy so do you normally watch every single nominated film?

I haven’t watched everything yet, but every year I make sure to see most of the important films, especially those that premiered at Venice or received strong reviews from critics. This year, I’ve seen a couple of films, but I’ve been busy working over the past month, so I haven’t watched much lately.

My favorite film so far is No Other Choice, the Korean film I’ve fallen in love with this year. It’s my favorite so far.