Egypt’s Foreign Ministry to Take People of Data’s AI Heritage Films to Diplomatic Missions Abroad

People of Data, a Cairo-based artificial intelligence community founded in 2023 to develop AI skills among young Egyptians, has secured the patronage of Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates.

The patronage is for Egypt Eternal Voices, its programme training young Egyptians to document the country’s heritage through AI-generated short films.

The backing is more than a name on a poster. It comes with a Letter of Intent signed by both parties, with Ambassador Wael El-Naggar, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Cultural Relations and Technical Cooperation, signing on behalf of the ministry, and People of Data co-founders Magdi Moussa and Youssef Kamal signing for the community.

Under the Letter of Intent, the resulting films will be made available to Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad for use at cultural events and other occasions. That gives participants a platform to introduce international audiences to Egypt’s history, culture and identity, through films made by Egyptians themselves.

The agreement sits within Egypt’s Second National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025 to 2030. That strategy aims to develop national talent and strengthen the country’s position in AI regionally and internationally.

A first award, and a planned series

Egypt Eternal Voices is the first Egyptian AI film award, and the starting point for a planned series documenting the country. Participants are trained to produce short videos using AI tools, focusing on Egyptian civilisation, tangible and intangible heritage, and national identity, guided by specialised historical references.

The programme has trained 1,000 young Egyptians to date and produced 120 films representing 20 governorates. Each film takes one governorate and one story from its heritage and brings it back to life, told by the people who live there.

Selected works will be presented at the competition’s closing ceremony, with the exact date yet to be announced. The award’s own page places the finale at the Grand Egyptian Museum in November and December 2026, with attendance by invitation only.

How the films are judged

The films had to meet a clear AI rule. At least 70% of each film had to be generated with AI, with up to 30% real footage, while the story, direction and final cut stayed with the filmmaker.

An 11-member jury scores every film on four criteria. Enjoyment carries 30%, story carries 30%, heritage and originality carry 20%, and craft and AI use carry the remaining 20%.

The heritage lead is Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, the former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. The jury is headed by Dr. Mervat Abou Oaf, Dean of the School of Visual Arts and Creativity Management at ESLSCA University and Head of the Cinema Committee at the Ministry of Culture.

Finalists were mentored by six AI studios. The studios are Skew People, Faces.Media, ByBagh, Naughtyboys, Kijami and 6FNGRS, with training delivered through Skillz, the AI School, People of AI’s upskilling arm.

What the winners receive

Round One carries $10,000 in prizes. The Grand Prix is worth $5,000, Gold is worth $3,000, and Silver is worth $2,000, with the top 10 also receiving official selection laurels.

The public also has a vote. The People Award, chosen by verified public votes, closes on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM Cairo time, with the winner announced at the finale.

The award is also recognised by the IDSC of the Prime Ministry. The top 10 honorees are shared with Egypt’s embassy network, which is where the foreign ministry backing turns into an audience.

That distribution is the real story here. A community programme that started with training young creators now has a route from a Cairo classroom to cultural events at Egyptian missions abroad, with heritage as the subject and AI as the tool.