Biography
Jehane Mahmoud is a Franco-Egyptian filmmaker and photographer, a graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, now based in Marseille. Her work captures a generation that is free, mixed, and scarred, yet driven by an ideal in a world seemingly on the brink of collapse. Uprootedness is a recurring theme in her creations—whether cultural, natural, corporeal, psychic, or political.
Her work is particularly noteworthy in the realm of music videos, where she has directed pieces for artists such as Flèche Love, Fulu Musique, and Johan Papaconstantino, for whom she created striking videos like Beau temps and Lundi. Her distinctive vision also stands out in her exhibitions, such as Portraits de velours at Afriques au Carré in Paris (2021) and Nombreux Dorment at Maison Bergamini in Brussels (2017). She has also participated in significant group exhibitions, including Les Chichas de la Pensée at the Ballet National de Marseille in 2023, Care Festival at Magasins Généraux in Pantin in 2020, and 100% Beaux-Arts at Grande Halle de la Villette in 2018.
Project
At Providenza, Jehane Mahmoud worked on the script for her first medium-length fiction film, Aya et Djibril. Blending realism and science fiction, this dreamlike epic unfolds in the heart of Marseille, where two children, Aya, a dancer, and Djibril, a poet, find each other in a world of dreams. Traveling between dimensions, they encounter fantastical figures who guide them in reinterpreting their intergenerational traumas, helping them find within themselves the answers they need to heal.
The film’s visuals draw on a hybrid aesthetic, combining Mediterranean naturalism with imaginary landscapes enhanced by 3D effects and AI. Poetry and dance serve as narrative and emotional vehicles, allowing the characters to express their resilience in a world often disconnected from the innocence of childhood—a perspective that enables them to perceive what adults cannot, using imagination as a tool for liberation.
For the residency’s closing event, Jehane Mahmoud staged an immersive reading beneath a chestnut tree, presenting the poems written by Djibril’s character in the film.
