'I came to England to break free'

Egyptian film director Khaled El Hagar's first English-language feature, Room to Rent, is a cross between My Beautiful Laundrette and Pedro Almodovar. Subjects such as gay sex and cross-cultural love do not go down well in his native country, however, and it has already been banned in Egypt. Initially the BBC was involved and wanted El Hagar to produce a brooding, political statement. The director saw things differently. "I want people to watch my films. They saw me in their 'black film' section, but I hate those tags." Then the Beeb backed out, so now the film oozes with colour. It also has a thumpingly good soundtrack, mixing hip hop with traditional Arab music and Flamenco.

Starring Sa?d Taghmaoui (Kate Winslet's Moroccan lover in Hideous Kinky), Juliette Lewis, Rupert Graves and Anna Massey, the semi-autobiographical comedy follows the progress of Ali, a young Egyptian screenwriter in London, as he moves in with a succession of eccentric flatmates. "The English are eccentric," says El Hagar. "They are unlike any other people. Everyone is so different. That is the opposite of Egypt."

He used London as a set, sometimes with hilarious consequences. On one occasion a group of lookalikes, including a George Michael and a Michael Jackson, heading for Madame JoJo's, were accosted by autograph hunters who thought they were the real thing. However, the film crew were also pelted with eggs by Muslim protesters.

"I was so shocked," says El Hagar. "This was the fundamentalism that dogged me in Egypt. I came to England to break free."

El Hagar, 38, was born in Suez and brought up in Cairo, where his home over-looked the pyramids. His father, who taught Islamic studies, died 20 years ago and his mother remains in the Egyptian capital with his three sisters. After graduating in law from Cairo University - because "I didn't know the right people to get on the film course" - he moved to England 11 years ago to study at the National Film School.

His graduation film, A Gulf Between Us, told the story of a relationship between a Jew and an Arab. One scene in particular, in which an Arab wears a skull cap, drew vicious attacks, which deterred El Hagar from returning to Egypt for several years. "I was blacklisted," he says.

His latest film focuses on how a relation-ship may work in one time and place but not in another. This seems to me, a Jew interviewing an Arab, to be poignant. Plonk us in the Middle East and there is a good chance we would be enemies.

"People don't mix in the Middle East and if people never mix, they will believe any horror stories about each other. It is that prejudice that I'm trying to explore."

Ali tries to deny his background to become English but realises that, in order to fit in, he must accept his past. El Hagar admits to going through a similar process. "I now know who I am and don't hide it. I have an accent, but that's me."