A blind Egyptian grandmother has spent years saving for the Hajj. Then the money vanishes — her son has run off with the family's savings — and rather than break her heart, her grandson convinces the entire neighbourhood to join him in an elaborate lie. That is the setup for Alashan Khater Galeela (In the Name of Galeela), the first feature from Egyptian director Mohamed El Zayat, which will premiere at the 56th International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2027.

The film competes in Bright Future, the festival's section for first-time filmmakers, and it took a long road to get there: 11 years in development. Set in the 1990s and described as a blend of absurdist drama, surrealism and humour, it taps into something genuinely weighty. The Hajj is one of the core obligations of Islam, and for many families the pilgrimage represents a lifetime of saving — which gives the grandson's deception real emotional stakes.

The cast pairs a veteran with a rising star. Sawsan Badr, one of Egypt's most respected screen actresses and a graduate of Cairo's High Institute of Theatrical Arts, plays the title character Galeela. Taha Desouky, known for the TV series Siko Siko and El Soffara, plays the grandson. Gihan El Shamashergy also appears.

El Zayat comes to features from advertising, having worked with agencies including BBDO and McCann Worldgroup. He is one of the few Egyptian names in the festival's first announcement of world premieres. His film sits alongside debut features like Kids Go Free, shot over 15 years across three countries, and Portrait of a Young Criminal, a Nepal-set take on Dostoevsky, plus Lucila Las Heras's dark fairy tale The Muglur and Ali Bakhtiari's Tehran documentary about artists in their studios.

For travellers, the draw is Rotterdam itself. The festival runs 28 January to 7 February 2027, and the full programme drops on 16 December. IFFR is one of Europe's most programmer-driven festivals — smaller and more adventurous than Cannes or Berlin — and January is a good excuse to see a Dutch city that often gets skipped in favour of Amsterdam: bold modern architecture, a rewarding port-side art scene and excellent food, all an hour or so from Schiphol by train. Tickets and passes go on sale as the programme is announced, and screenings of debut films in sections like Bright Future are usually easy to get into compared with the bigger festivals.

There is no trailer, release date or distribution plan yet, so Rotterdam audiences will be the first to see how El Zayat's mix of faith, family and absurdist comedy plays. Anyone planning a late-January cultural trip to the Netherlands could do worse than building a few festival screenings into the itinerary.