Multi-award-winning Egyptian filmmaker, producer and stage director. 10+ operas across Egypt, Qatar, USA and Europe. Cannes · FESPACO · Cairo IFF. Egypt's UN Security Council gala at The Met. And now the world's first cinematic AI artist from Bharat.
Years directing & producing
Operas & theatre productions
Festival selections & awards
Production companies
Features, documentaries, musicals and recent 2024–2026 productions. Full credits on IMDb.
Ayaan Malhotra is an AI-generated cinematic artist created and directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek - from Bharat 🇮🇳 to the world. Devotional epics, heartbreak ballads, festival anthems, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, English. New music every Friday.
Devotional & faith - Holi Hai · Dharma Kshetra · Shri Ram Jai Ram · Eid Mubarak · Ibrahim Ki Dua · Ganpati Bappa · Har Har Shambhu · Jai Jagannath · Kanhaiya · Noor-e-Madinah · Tashnagi Ki Ret
Heartbreak & love - Khamosh Mohabbat · Blocked · Agar Phir Mile · Main Wahi Hoon · Platform Number Teen · Der Ho Gayi · Rooh Ka Fitoor · Naya Main · Adhoori Chitthi
Bonds - Maa Tu Hai · Chand Se Baatein · Amar Aag · Saath Chalenge Hum · Tu Hi Raksha
Patriotic & social - Azaadi Ka Suraj · Sirf 14 Saal
Sufi & classical - Majnu · Majnu Sufi
New territory - Embers (debut English track)
Party & world - Raat Full Volume · Cinq Fois Je T'aime · Bina Mukhauta
Neel Lacroix is an AI-generated French blues singer created and directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek. His debut single Same Rain, a bilingual duet with Ayaan Malhotra, finds two men describing the same heartbreak in different languages - and discovering that grief needs no translation. "You say dard, I say heartbreak - but it all hurts just the same."
Blues · bilingual · Hindi + English · acoustic guitar · raw vocal duet
The emerging of a Qatari artistic scene through the rise of Dana Al-Meer from director to star singer at the 2022 World Cup opening ceremony. Produced by Al Jazeera Documentary.
Music concert by Dana Al Fardan, performed at Katara Opera House, Doha. Accompanied by a 25-minute documentary produced for Al Jazeera Documentary. Director and producer: Hisham Abdel Khalek.
Official music video for award-winning Qatari composer Dana Al Fardan. Directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek.
118-minute feature documentary. 3rd Best Documentary at FESPACO 2017. Selected at Cairo International Film Festival, Dhaka, Luxor African Film Festival and Cannes Mediterranean Best Documentary section. Directed and produced by Hisham Abdel Khalek.
15-minute short film. Jury Prize at Alexandria Short Film Festival. Selected at Cannes Short Corner 2017, Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival and Rotterdam Arab Film Festival. Directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek.
Original Broadway-bound musical. Book by Hisham Abdel Khalek and Mohamed Metwally, music by Hesham Nazih. Staged at Queens Central Library, Stage 72 and Feinstein's/54 Below, New York. Four songs performed at the Egypt UN Gala, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.
Directed the gala hosted by Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in front of the Temple of Dendur. Attended by 600 Permanent Representatives of UN member states and high-ranking officials. Egypt obtained its non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council two days later.
A song from Akhenaten The Musical reimagined in a modern setting - exploring the timeless bond between a mother and her son through a contemporary family story. Featuring N'Kenge. Directed and produced by Hisham Abdel Khalek.
A song from Akhenaten The Musical brought into the present - reflecting on the world we live in today, our past, and what lies ahead. Featuring Seph Stanek. Directed and produced by Hisham Abdel Khalek.
A portrait of Esaad Younis, presenting her career as actress, producer, distributor and journalist.
Two short films directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek. Special Mention at the Festival of Nations. Selected at Cannes Short Corner 2008 and 2009, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and São Paulo International Short Film Festival.
Artistic director for opera Aida staged in Doha, Qatar and under the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt. 10-opera and theatre repertoire including Tosca, Carmen, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Bohème and Turandot, produced across Egypt, Syria, Dubai, France and the Netherlands.
Hisham Abdel Khalek is a multi-award-winning Egyptian film producer, director and scriptwriter who lives between Paris and New York. He has produced and directed films, opera and theatre plays.
In 2002, he was involved in the production of opera “Aida” in Doha, Qatar and “Aida” under the pyramids of Giza (Egypt) as artistic director. He produced a series of operas and classical music concerts in Egypt, Syria, Dubai, France, the Netherlands and other countries. His repertoire includes 10+ operas and theatre productions ranging from Aida, Tosca, Carmen, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Bohème to Turandot.
In 2008, he co-founded with Olivier Delesse the French production and distribution company “So Freakantastik”. Hisham Abdel Khalek was the European distributor and PR responsible for Al Arabia Cinema, the biggest cinema group in Egypt. In 2014, he co-founded with Olivier Delesse the New York production company “H & O Productions”.
He created the musical production Akhenaten The Musical - book by Hisham Abdel Khalek and Mohamed Metwally, lyrics by Mohamed Metwally and music by Hesham Nazih - now in development in New York. In early 2015, Hisham Abdel Khalek became a member of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society) and produced concert highlights of Akhenaten the Musical at Queens Central Library, Stage 72 / The Triad and Feinstein’s / 54 Below in New York City.
On October 13, 2015, Hisham Abdel Khalek directed the gala hosted by Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in front of the Temple of Dendur, where 4 songs from Akhenaten the Musical were performed. Attended by more than 600 Permanent Representatives of UN member states, high-ranking UN officials and representatives from business, politics and media, the event was part of the candidature of Egypt for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council, which Egypt obtained on October 15, 2015 with 179 votes out of 193.
After focusing on documentaries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hisham Abdel Khalek and Olivier Delesse broadened their activity internationally and settled in Doha, Qatar, where they opened in 2024 and 2025 production companies operating under the umbrella of Media City Qatar: H and O Productions LLC.
Hisham Abdel Khalek is ambassador for many cinema gear brands including Blackmagic, Sachtler, Litepanels, Atomos, Anton Bauer, Harlowe, Tentacle Sync, Exascend, OWC, G-Technology, Synology, SmallRig and Saramonic.
Most recently, Hisham has carried his vision into the digital frontier with Ayaan Malhotra, a groundbreaking virtual artist born under his direction - a cinematic musical project bridging South Asian heritage and modern global pop.
Brand ambassador for world-class cinema technology. Click a logo to visit the brand site.
