Honey Bees Films is an independent creative production house founded in 2020 and led by a group of young film professionals. Honey Bees aims to be an integrated production house that develops, produces, and distributes high-quality films, documentaries, and content.
Honey Bees Films boasts a young, diverse portfolio featuring projects such as 2:30, A short comedy that has been screened at over 12 international film festivals. Stings – A short comedy web series spanning two seasons and ten episodes that tackles societal issues in Egypt. Fekry’s Thoughts – An award-winning short documentary that was selected to more than 30 international film festivals. Amina’s Song – A short fiction film co-produced by Egypt, Russia, and Latvia, which has garnered the TATNEFT award in Film7Days in Russia and has been selected to more than 15 international film festivals. Seven and a Half, a short fiction in pre-production, and A Lady Called Sayeda, A feature film currently in development, hae been selected for prestigious development workshops, including DFM and PAS Jumpstart. And The Fence, a feature film in development, and winner of the second pitch award in Les Ateliers de Tetouan in Morocco.
With a deep passion for storytelling and a commitment to excellence, Honey Bees Films is dedicated to becoming a leading production house, with a vision to transform narratives and elevate the film industry.
Meet the founder
Essam Hayder is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer based between Egypt and France, and a filmmaker with hands-on experience in every aspect of the industry. He is a DFM Alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in Screenwriting from the High Cinema Institute and a BA in English Language and Literature. He participated in several international markets, labs, and workshops, including ATELIERS DE TETOUAN, Tetouan Industry Days, DFM Business Lab, DFM, PAS Jumpstart, Film Independant, GFF, Gabes Cinema Fan Development workshops, Luxor African Film Festival, and Haile Greima's Filmmaking workshop. His earlier shorts participated in many film festivals.
For the past six years, he has worked as a creative director and producer with several agencies and helped more than 50 brands and businesses on local, regional, and international levels, overseeing various aspects of production, and ensuring successful outcomes, by producing and directing commercials, content, and hours of documentary or working on their social media and marketing strategies and content.
In 2020, Essam founded Honey Bees Films, and under the label, he wrote, directed, and produced 2:30, which participated in many international film festivals; Stings, a short digital series of five episodes; Ferkry's Thoughts, an award-winning documentary; and Amina’s Song, which won the TATNEFT award in the Film7Days competition and is now in distribution.
He is developing The Fence, his first feature as a director, which was selected to ATELIERS DE TETOUAN and won the second prize, and A Lady Called Sayeda, his first feature as a producer, which was selected to DFMI and PAS Jumpstart, and is working on his latest short film, Seven and a Half. Essam is keen on experimenting and playing with genres to tackle topics of importance to him, such as street stories, unheard stories, immigrants, displacement, freedoms, minorities, societal issues, politics, and Middle Eastern matters. He works diligently to produce projects that reflect these themes and contribute to making a change.
