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Prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is branching out into Saudi Arabia by setting up an outpost of his prolific Film Clinic shingle – which has six titles at Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival – in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

The milestone move comes after Hefzy has been busy forging rapports with Saudi’s film community on a number of projects including Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky’s high-end Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan” – which had its regional premiere at Red Sea last year after launching from Toronto. “Hajjan” was produced by Film Clinic in tandem with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra.

“This is something that’s been in the cards for a couple of years,” Hefzy told Variety. He added that though Film Clinic’s Saudi base will be in Riyadh, the idea is to be active throughout the entire kingdom. “We’re talking about Riyadh.

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy said securing international sales remains a challenge for Arab films, as he presented two features at El Gouna Film Festival (October 24-November 1).

Hefzy, head and co-founder of the Cairo-based production company Film Clinic, produced Egyptian filmmaker Jaylan Auf’s feature debut The Inevitable Journey To Find A Wedding Dress, which premieres in El Gouna’s narrative competition. He was also present for a retrospective screening of his own writing debut Snakes And Ladders (2001).

The seasoned writer/producer noted that, while many Arabic and Egyptian films tour festivals worldwide and often win awards, securing sales is problematic.