11/04/2025 - The Cannes competition entry marks the third and final instalment in the director’s Cairo-set trilogy, following The Nile Hilton Incident and Boy from Heaven

Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic has been selected for the 78th Cannes Film Festival’s main competition, where it will have its sights set on the Palme d’Or (see the news). The feature marks the third and final instalment in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy, following The Nile Hilton Incident [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile] (Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2017) and Boy from Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tarik Saleh
film profile], which picked up the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes in 2022.

Penned and helmed by Saleh, Eagles of the Republic is a political thriller set against the backdrop of Egypt’s glamorous yet tightly controlled film industry. The story follows George Fahmy, Egypt’s most celebrated actor, who is pressured to star in a government-commissioned propaganda film. As he is drawn deeper into the orbit of the state, George begins an affair with a general’s wife, putting his life and career in jeopardy.

Fares Fares plays the lead role of George Fahmy, continuing his long-standing collaboration with Saleh. The pair have worked together on several projects, including The Nile Hilton Incident, Boy from Heaven, Metropia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Contractor, as well as the HBO series Westworld. Fares won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Nile Hilton Incident and has established himself as one of the leading Middle Eastern actors working internationally.

The cast also features César-winning actress Lyna Khoudri (Papicha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mounia Meddour
film profile], The French Dispatch [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) as George’s girlfriend Donya, alongside Amr Waked (Syriana, Firebrand [+see also:
film review
film profile]), Zineb Triki (The Bureau [+see also:
interview: Frédéric Lavigne
series profile], Arthur Rambo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile]), Cherien Dabis (All That’s Left of You [+see also:
film review
interview: Cherien Dabis
film profile], Mo, Fallout, Only Murders in the Building), Sherwan Haji (Fallen Leaves [+see also:
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film profile], The Other Side of Hope [+see also:
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trailer
Q&A: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile]) and Suhaib Nashwan (Amira, Layla M. [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]).

Shot in Istanbul during spring and summer 2024, the film completed its post-production in Gothenburg. With a production budget of €9 million, Eagles of the Republic ranks among the most ambitious Arabic-language productions in recent memory.

The creative team includes DoP Pierre Aïm, production designer Roger Rosenberg, costume designer Virginie Montel, make-up and hair designer Saara Räisänen, and editor Theis Schmidt. The score was composed by two-time Academy Award winner Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water, Little Women).

The pic is being produced by Linus Stöhr Torell for Sweden’s Unlimited Stories, Linda Mutawi and Johan Lindström for Sweden’s Apparaten, and Alexandre Mallet-Guy for France’s Memento Production. Co-production partners include Ström Pictures in Denmark, Bufo in Finland and Films Boutique in Germany. Additional backing was provided by SVT, Film i Väst, ARTE France Cinéma, SF Studios, Mikael Ahlström Films and Playtime. Financial support also came from the Swedish Film Institute, Canal+, Ciné+, Eurimages, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Bayerischer Rundfunk, ARTE France, the Danish Film Institute, the CNC, the Paris Region Fund, the Finnish Film Foundation, YLE and DR.

Playtime is handling the international sales, with Memento distributing the movie in France and SF Studios set to release the film across the Nordics in autumn 2025.

Saleh, who began his career as a graffiti artist, is now one of Sweden’s most internationally recognised directors. His debut feature, the animated dystopian flick Metropia, premiered in the Venice International Film Critics’ Week in 2009. His breakout success came with The Nile Hilton Incident, which sold over 400,000 tickets in France and was a box-office hit. Boy from Heaven went on to receive a César nomination and racked up more than 500,000 admissions in the French market alone. Alongside his work on fiction features, Saleh has also directed episodes of Ray Donovan, Westworld and several acclaimed documentaries. Reflecting on the film’s Cannes selection, he said: “Our ambition is to tell stories to the world. There’s no greater stage than Cannes. The making of this movie can only be described as a small miracle. Now, my team and I can’t wait to share it with our audience.”