Mostafa El Kashef is a distinguished Egyptian cinematographer and producer celebrated for his poetic realism and visually arresting imagery. He shot The Village Next to Paradise, which made history as the first Somali feature selected for Un Certain Regard at the Festival de Cannes. For his work on the film, he won the award for Best Cinematography at the Austrian Film Awards, the Carthage Film Festival, and the Diagonale—Festival of Austrian Film,. His acclaimed debut feature 19B won the Best Artistic Contribution award at the Cairo International Film Festival, and his short films Cai-Ber and Khadija screened at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, as did I Promise You Paradise, which was also presented in La Semaine de la Critique at Cannes and went on to win cinematography prizes worldwide. A member of the Austrian Film Academy, El Kashef continues to shape global cinema with daring collaborations such as Aisha Can’t Fly Away, solidifying his stature as one of the most dynamic voices of his generation.