New director Mohamed Gaafar has lived in many places around the world but returned to his Cairo roots to shoot this compelling short film, Persona.

To begin with could you please tell us a bit about yourself. Did you go to film school or are you self taught – perhaps learning on the job?

I’m an Egyptian born in Dubai although I’ve lived in California, Montreal, London and Brisbane and studied film, graphic design and sound engineering. Studying certainly helped, but I feel the real school is by learning by being on set.

How long have you been directing and where are you based?

Around 2005 I worked as a producer on a TV channel in Egypt, but I couldn’t find myself in that job, so I quit and started writing scripts which eventually led me to directing.

We love your short film Persona. The editing style of fast cut action intercut with Amin’s PoV creates compelling storytelling. How did the film evolve, was it a collaborative project?

It was all shot in one day in Cairo. I didn’t do a storyboard, it was simply the visuals in my head, and by each step and the crew’s input we found that vision evolving.