An Egyptian journalist, film critic, translator, and researcher, Essam Zakaria has served as director of the Ismailia International Festival for Documentary and Short Films since 2017. He is deeply involved in cultural affairs and specializes in film criticism. Zakaria has written dozens of critical articles for both general and specialized film publications and authored numerous books on Egyptian and international cinema. He has translated a wide range of literary and critical works from English and German. His cinematic publications include Fellini: Poet of Cinema, Cinema and the President, and Youssef Chahine… The Mirror Maker, among others.