Backstage at the Cairo Puppet Theater in Al Ataba, a seven year old boy became entranced with the marionettes used to perform the famous operetta El Leila El Kebira after longing to see them up close for so long. His passion for this artistic world became a reality and has turned into a life journey dedicated to storytelling and the art of expression in all its forms.
That young boy was director and screenwriter Tamer Mohsen who is known for his keen attention to visual and dramatic details in his successful works that have not been forgotten over time, such as the TV series Bedon Zekr Asmaa', Taht El Saytara (Under Control), Haza Al Masaa', and the film Ott W Far. Furthermore, his documentary films are considered to be professional and subjective political references. His short and feature films have also gone on to win numerous awards. Mohsen holds a degree in Engineering from the Faculty of Fine Arts.
He pursued his passion for the arts by writing and directing a play titled Marionnette, which won the award for Best Play at the 4th Free Theater Festival. He also worked as an Assistant Set Designer on the late director Youssef Chahine's film Al-mohager (1994) and Al-maseer (1997).
Tamer Mohsen finally set his sights on a career in cinema as he enrolled in the High Institute of Cinema, which led him to write and direct two short films that established him as an up-and-coming director at the time. The two short films are: Al Hafla, a winner of the Shady Abdel Salam award at the 7th Egyptian National Film Festival, followed by his graduation project To Sleep Peacefully till 07:00 AM that went on to win the Jury Prize at the 18th Egyptian National Film Festival and opened the 3rd Arab Film Festival - Rotterdam.
The latter film is heavily inspired by screenwriter Waheed Hamed's film Ma'aly Al Wazir (His Excellency Mr. Minister), which was screened in the same edition of the festival. Both films dealt with the concept of nightmares that can change the lives of the main characters.
Tamer recalls screenwriter Waheed Hamed's excitement at their first meeting after the screening of his film To Sleep Peacefully till 07:00 AM. That meeting eventually led to a close relationship between the two that resulted in their professional cooperation later on. In spite of the success of his two short films, Tamer saw that working on documentaries with storytelling and dissecting historical facts is the way to establish himself as a true feature director.
This conclusion led him to direct and write a number of documentaries that were considered trailblazers in the Arab world in how they dealt with historical subject matter in terms of the aspects of entertainment, suspense, reenactment of historical scenes, and mixing between drama and documentary elements. His documentary works are: Saad Zaghlol... Al Za'eem Wa Zelloh, Eghtyal El Sadat, and Eghtyal Hassan El Banna. The TV series Bedon Zekr Asmaa' (2013) was Tamer Mohsen's first collaboration with salient screenwriter Waheed Hamed. The series portrays the 1980s from a political and social point of view clearly and without bias.
According to Tamer, it took longer to complete than any of his other projects. Two years later, Mohsen directed his debut feature film Ott W Far; another collaboration with Hamed. The film won Best Debut Film a the Egyptian National Film Festival and the Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival.
During the Ramadan 2015 season, he directed and wrote the TV series Taht El Saytara, which garnered massive support from audiences because of its serious and unconventional theme as it dealt with the idea of addiction that is not only limited to drugs. The series was honored by many official entities, including the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the National Council for Human Rights, and the Addiction Treatment and Abuse Fund. Two years after that, he co-wrote and directed the TV series Haza Al Masaa' (2017), a psychological drama where he posed a simple question: Is knowing the truth a blessing or a curse? The series showcased the consequences of some people's curiosity and desire to reveal private secrets, and what happens when someone is able to see beyond people's facade of having the perfect life.
Tamer won several awards for this series, including Best Series, Director, Screenplay at the Cinema Syndicate Awards for Ramadan Dramas 2017. The series was also honored by the National Council for Human Rights.