Written and directed by Namir Abdel Messeeh, the Egyptian documentary Life After Siham was released in cinemas across several French cities last week.
 

The film is showing commercially in 53 cinemas across 50 French cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse, Montpellier, Rennes, Grenoble, Cannes, Dijon, Rouen, Versailles, Orléans, Tours, Valence, Clermont-Ferrand, and Amiens, as part of an extensive network of independent and commercial theaters.

This wide theatrical release was accompanied by a Q&A with the director following the screening at Les 3 Luxembourg cinema in Paris.

Speaking about the film’s public release, Abdel Messeeh said that feelings of anxiety and happiness inevitably overlap for any filmmaker when audiences watch a film and share their reactions.

He expressed excitement about experiencing viewers’ responses inside theaters, adding that this sense of apprehension is an inherent part of the directing process.

“A filmmaker is always asking: Will the message reach the audience? Will they connect with the film?” he explained.

He emphasized that audience engagement made him feel the film’s message had truly come through. At that point, the film no longer belongs solely to its creator but becomes the audience’s as well—shaped by shared personal and human experiences.

Abdel Messeeh added that his encounters with audiences during festival screenings were emotionally charged moments, combining anticipation with vulnerability. He stressed that reactions inside cinemas represent the true test of a film. While presenting such a deeply personal and humanitarian work to the public was not easy, he considered it essential for the film to move beyond its intimate origins and become a collective experience.

He also noted that audience responses, whether silence, emotional reactions, or post-screening discussions, gave him a strong sense that the film had reached viewers and that its story no longer belonged to him alone.
 

Life After Siham chronicles Abdel Messeeh's journey after the death of Siham, as he struggles to come to terms with her permanent absence. In his eyes, a mother is eternal.

From this belief, he embarks on a journey through his family history between Egypt and France. This personal exploration intertwines with echoes of Youssef Chahine’s cinema, telling a story filled with love—one that remains alive beyond loss.

As the process unfolds, he realizes that cinema transcends mere remembrance: it becomes a vessel for expressing love and paying tribute to the fleeting beauty of life.

The documentary captures his emotional evolution, from struggling to accept his mother’s passing to actively preserving her legacy through a film that involves his father and their shared complexities.

Life After Siham is written and directed by Namir Abdel Messeeh and stars Siham Abdel Messeeh, Waguih Abdel Messeeh, and Nermeen Abdel Messeeh.

The film features cinematography by Nicolas Duchêne, sound by Roman Dymny, editing by Benoît Alavoine and Emmanuel Manzano, and music by Clovis Schneider. It is produced by Awdia Films in partnership with Camille Lamel, Les Films d’Ici, Red Star, and Ambient Light, and distributed by Splitscreen and Météore Films.

The film had its world premiere in the ACID section at the Cannes Film Festival 2025—a parallel programme dedicated to independent films.

Life After Siham won multiple major awards at El Gouna Film Festival (2025), including the Silver El Gouna Star for Best Documentary Film, the El Gouna Star for Best Arab Documentary, and the CineGouna Emerge EU Award for Best Feature Documentary.

The film also received the Grand Prize at the Amiens International Film Festival in France.