Taha (Asser Yassin) is a middle-class pharmacist leading a solitary existence while caring for his disabled father, a former history teacher. His life is turned upside down when his father is suddenly and mysteriously murdered, prompting an obsessive quest to uncover his father’s dark past – one linked to an underground organisation with a dubious mission.
For their third consecutive collaboration, Marwan Hamed adapted Ahmed Mourad’s 2010 best-selling novel of the same name – another major commercial success for the pair. Their now-established trademarks of secret networks and dangerous substances are front and centre in the narrative.
The result is part murder mystery, part revenge thriller and part psychological neo-noir. Diamond Dust is an inquiry into the elusiveness of justice, the suffocating banality of middle-class life, the intergenerational inheritance of violence and the ambiguity of morality – a recurring theme in both Hamed’s and Mourad’s work. Beneath this dark genre piece lies a subtle commentary on the legitimacy of taking the law into one’s own hands in a lawless nation plagued by institutional corruption.
– Joseph Fahim
Film details
Country of production
Egypt
Year
2018
Festival edition
IFFR 2026
Length
148'
Medium/Format
DCP
Language
Arabic
Premiere status
Dutch Premiere
Principal cast
Asser Yassin, Menna Shalaby, Maged El Kedwani, Eyad Nassar, Rosaline Elbay, Shereen Reda
Director
Marwan Hamed
Producer
Zaid El Kourdy, Tamer Morsi
Screenplay
Ahmed Mourad
Cinematography
Ahmad Al Morsy
Editing
Ahmed Hafez
Production design
Muhammed Attia
Sound design
Hassan Abu Gabal
Music
Hesham Nazih
Production company
New Century Productions, Synergy Films
Sales / World rights holder
MAD Solutions
Shows of "Diamond Dust"
Press & Industry
-
Video on demand
English subtitled
Press & Industry
Not available
Pathé 3
In-person
English subtitled
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