On January 19, 2026, Eagles of the Republic- the final chapter in Tarik Saleh's Cairo Trilogy- took home six Guldbagge Awards, including Best Film. It was one of the most nominated films in the history of the awards, with eleven nominations, and the evening felt like a powerful affirmation of everything this project set out to do.
I had the privilege of producing this film alongside Johan Lindström (Apparaten), Linus Stöhr Torell (Unlimited Stories), and Alexandre Mallet-Guy (Memento) , and it is a moment I won't soon forget. Alongside Best Film, the awards recognised Fares Fares for Best Actor, Tarik Saleh for Best Screenplay, and the extraordinary craft teams behind the film's visual effects, costume design, and makeup.
A Story That Crosses Borders
At its core, Eagles of the Republic tells the story of an Egyptian movie star coerced into starring in a propaganda film glorifying his country's president. It is a story about power, about the manipulation of art, and about the impossible choices people face under authoritarian regimes. But it is also, unmistakably, a film that could only have been made through cross-cultural collaboration.
This is a Swedish-French-Danish-Finnish-German co-production, written and directed by a Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker, starring a Swedish-Lebanese actor, with a cast drawn from across the Arab world and beyond- from Turkey to Jordan to the United States. It was shot in Istanbul, standing in for Cairo, scored by the French composer Alexandre Desplat, and premiered in main competition at the Cannes Film Festival before being selected as Sweden's official submission to the 98th Academy Awards.
That kind of filmmaking doesn't happen by accident. It requires trust across languages, industries, and cultures. It requires teams who understand that the most compelling stories often live at the intersection of worlds, not squarely within one.
Why This Matters
When I co-founded Fikra in Stockholm, it was built on a simple conviction: that there is enormous creative power in the space between Europe and the Middle East, and that stories born from that space deserve to reach global audiences. The Cairo Trilogy- from The Nile Hilton Incident through Boy from Heaven and now Eagles of the Republic- has been a profound expression of that conviction.
This is the second time the trilogy has won the Guldbagge for Best Film; The Nile Hilton Incident received the same honour in 2018. That consistency speaks not just to Tarik's extraordinary vision as a filmmaker, but to the viability and resonance of cross-cultural storytelling at the highest level.
There is a tendency in the industry to treat films from "between" cultures as niche.. too Arab for Scandinavian audiences, too Scandinavian for Arab ones. The Cairo Trilogy has proven the opposite. These stories resonate precisely because they refuse to belong to a single perspective. They hold complexity. They ask audiences to sit with ambiguity. And audiences have responded- from Toronto to Cannes to the Guldbagge stage.
Looking Forward
This moment is both a culmination and a beginning. The Cairo Trilogy is complete, but the work of building bridges between storytelling traditions continues. At Fikra, we remain committed to developing and producing films that move between worlds — stories with strong artistic voices and global relevance, rooted in the belief that an idea, a fikra, can transform understanding across borders.
To Tarik, Fares, and every member of the cast and crew: thank you for your artistry, your courage, and your trust. To our partners and co-producers across five countries: this is what collaboration looks like. And to everyone who believes that cinema is most alive when it dares to cross boundaries... this one is for you.
Eagles of the Republic is produced by Unlimited Stories, Apparaten, and Memento Production. It is currently in cinemas across the Nordics via SF Studios and in France via Memento. International sales are handled by Playtime.
