Watermelon Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights to El Sett, the highly anticipated biopic chronicling the life of legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, directed by Marwan Hamed and starring Mona Zaki in the title role. The film will open in theatres across North America later this year, bringing one of the Arab world’s most significant cultural figures to the widest English-language audience she has ever had, a moment that, given the scale of Umm Kulthum’s legacy, has been a long time coming.
The Film
El Sett traces Umm Kulthum’s remarkable journey from a small village in Egypt’s Nile Delta to becoming the most celebrated voice in the Arab world, with the narrative moving between defining moments in her life and career while exploring how her rise intersected with some of the most significant political and social transformations of the 20th century. Defying the restrictions placed on women of her era, Umm Kulthum first performed disguised as a boy before rising to dominate the stages of Cairo and captivate audiences across the globe, a story that Hamed, whose previous work includes The Yacoubian Building, The Blue Elephant, and Kira & El Gin, translates into one of the most ambitious Egyptian productions in recent memory.
The production credentials are formidable. The screenplay was written by Ahmed Mourad, cinematography by Abdel Salam Moussa, with music by Emmy-nominated composer Hesham Nazih, whose credits include Moon Knight, and immersive sound design by Academy Award nominee Wayne Pashley. The combination of Egyptian creative leadership and international technical talent reflects the ambition of a film that is reaching well beyond its home market.
Why North America, Why Now
Regarded as one of the most influential cultural figures in modern Arab history, Umm Kulthum’s renown reached Europe and the United States during her lifetime, and in 2023, Rolling Stone ranked her 61st on its 200 Greatest Singers of All Time list, ahead of Taylor Swift, Diana Ross, Amy Winehouse, Bono, and Elton John, among others. That ranking, and the conversation it generated, confirmed what Arab audiences have always known: that Umm Kulthum is not a regional icon waiting to be discovered by the West, but a global figure who has simply been waiting for the right vehicle to carry her story there. Watermelon Pictures’ Munir Atalla described the acquisition plainly: “El Sett is a powerful celebration of a nuanced artist whose influence continues to rock the world.” Marwan Hamed was equally direct: “Umm Kulthum belongs not only to Egypt, but to the cultural history of an entire region, and I’m excited for new audiences to experience her extraordinary journey.”
