D.O.P Ahmed Al Morsy is the magic name behind the great cinematography in “Kira & El Gin”

Raising the bar in every job he undertakes, Ahmed Al Morsycontinues to prove himself as one of the most significant D.O.Psin Egypt and the Arab world. Most recently, KIRA & EL GIN, by Marwan Hamed, was released in cinemas in Egypt and the Arab world. The imagery of the film was one among the most important elements, which were praised by audiences and critics alike. So what are the secrets behind Ahmed Al Morsy’s great cinematography? 

A Historical Period Never explored before in Movies 

KIRA & EL GIN begin with The Denshawai incident, followed by the 1919 revolution and a few years later. It’s clear that Al Morsy wanted to create a visual identity for this period to be different from any other historical period familiar to audiences or the few works that addressed that historical period in Egypt. That’s why the degrees of color in the film are unfamiliar to audiences. 

Very Narrow Locations 

Among the challenges faced in KIRA & EL GIN was shooting inside narrow locations, which was necessary due to the nature of the film. For example, though the patriots were gathered inside a narrow basement, Al Morsy was able to move the camera smoothly and make all actors appear clearly in the scene. 

The Lighting Challenge 

Among the challenges faced to visualize that historical period was to make the lighting of the film look real. During that period, the lighting was dim and electricity sources at houses and streets were so limited. However, Ahmed Al Morsy found a way out and all old sources of light were present; at the same time, the lighting seemed so real, keeping in mind that this was technically inapplicable. 

Interior & Exterior Night 

Lighting becomes a hard mission especially when most scenes in the film are during the night. However, nobody felt that the nature of the light in such scenes were strange, be it dim lighting or bright lighting. 

Much Action & Many Chases 

In addition to the previous challenges, the film is full of chases, assassinations and protests, making the D.O.P’s mission hard. How could he coordinate light with actors’ movement and camera movement especially that there was too much action? However, the action scenes in the film were extraordinary and renovated. Some of which were single shot scenes, others were in narrow streets and others were full of actors. 

What about Graphics? 

One of the D.O.P’s hardest missions in a film like KIRA & EL GIN was imagining a big part of the location. Many locations were created through visual effects; therefore, Al Morsy had to shoot many of the scenes using only his imagination. 

We believe that nobody felt there was something un real in this film. 

For more than 20 years, DOP/Director Ahmad Al Morsy has been working in the filmmaking industry making more than 50 films and over 2000 TV ads as a DOP, and recently as a director. Throughout his career, Al Morsy won 23 national and international awards for his work. Currently, Al Morsy is a member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), in addition to the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) that granted him a total of 9 awards, since joining it in 2018.

His latest works as a DOP also include KIRA & EL GIN by Marwan Hamed, which has been released in Egypt and the Arab world and is one of Egypt’s biggest budget films ever. Prior to that, he took part in Action film Al Aref: Awdat Younis that dominated the Egyptian box office in 2021, and for which Al Morsy received a fair share of critical acclaim for introducing unprecedented forms of actions to the Egyptian film industry. For his work in the hit film, Al Morsy won Best Cinematography Award at Cairo Film Society Festival.