In the Name of Galeela Brings a Story of Family, Faith and Deception to Rotterdam

When the money meant to send a blind grandmother on the pilgrimage of her lifetime disappears, her grandson does not tell her the truth. He recruits the whole neighborhood to help him lie.

That is the premise of Alashan Khater Galeela (In the Name of Galeela, 2027), the first feature from the Egyptian director Mohamed El Zayat. The 1990s-set dramedy, which spent 11 years in development, will have its world premiere at the 56th International Film Festival Rotterdam in January, where it will compete in the Bright Future section for debut filmmakers.

The story begins when the father of a young man, played by Taha Desouky, runs away with the family’s savings, leaving the household without the funds for the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The grandson rallies his neighbors to convince his grandma that she is still going. The festival’s program note describes the film as an exploration of how far people will go for someone they love. The Hajj is among the central obligations of Islam, and for many families the journey is the result of years of saving, which gives the deception its weight. 

The cast is led by Taha Desouky, Sawsan Badr, who plays Galeela, the grandmother, and Gihan El Shamashergy, whose role is unmentioned. Badr, who graduated from Cairo’s High Institute of Theatrical Arts in 1979, is one of Egypt’s most respected screen actresses, a reputation reviewers noted well before this project. Desouky is a younger performer whose recent credits include the television series Siko Siko and El Soffara.

The film’s early publicity describes a blend of absurdist drama, surrealism and humor, with family, faith and sacrifice at the center. That mix makes it a natural fit for a section meant to showcase emerging voices, and one of the few Egyptian entries in the festival’s first announcement.

El Zayat is a newcomer to features but not to the camera. He built his career in advertising, working with agencies including BBDO and McCann Worldgroup before turning to feature-length filmmaking.

The festival runs from 28 January to 7 February of  2027, and ‘In the Name of Galeela’ is among the first 10 world premieres announced for the Bright Future and Harbour sections, and the full program is due on 16 December. Its companions in Bright Future include Kids Go Free, made over 15 years across three countries, and Portrait of a Young Criminal, a Nepal-set adaptation of Dostoevsky. The section also includes The Muglur, Lucila Las Heras’s dark fairy tale, and Tehran: The Obscure Atelier of Desire, Ali Bakhtiari’s documentary about artists working in their studios.

Vanja Kaludjercic, the festival’s director, said in announcing the titles that cinema is at its most exciting “when it challenges our expectations.”

Distribution plans, a release date, and a trailer have not yet been announced. For now, the film’s first audience will be in Rotterdam.

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