Maher Sabry(I)

Maher Sabry was born in Cairo, Egypt to an upper middle-class family. and attended the elite Victoria college, a prestigious private school which has been attended by many Arab and Egyptian celebrities like film directors Yousef Chahine, and Shady Abdel Salam, Actors Omar Shereif, Ahmed Ramzy, and Samir Sabri. Later, Sabry earned an Bachelor of Arts, (1993) in English literature and drama from Cairo University. After graduation, he acted in, co-wrote and directed several plays as well as starring in student movies and independent films. He also worked teaching children drama, Arts and English, publishing cartoons and publishing poetry. In 1998 he wrote and directed his play "The Harem" where he "was the first director to portray gay and lesbian love in lyrical and sympathetic manner on stage, in fact in the Egyptian media as a whole..." (Arts and the Islamic World, vol. 35). His work as a gay activist for Egyptian LGBTQ, including his work covering the notorious Queen Boat arrests of 2001, earned him the Felipa De Souza Award, in 2002. He studied Cinema in San Francisco where he has made several short films and a documentary. "Toul Omry" is his first feature length narrative movie.