After completing his postgraduate studies, El Assal worked as a freelance producer and editor for various international media organizations, including the BBC, MBC, Al Jazeera, Current TV, and LUXE.TV.[9] He also held a position as a teaching assistant at Kingston University. El Assal's first notable film credit was as a producer on Divizionz (2006/2008), a guerrilla feature filmed in a Ugandan slum and co-produced with Donald Mugisha and James Tayler.
In 2011, El Assal co-founded the independent production company Wady Films (formerly Wady Media) in Luxembourg. The company focused on producing and co-producing international feature films, documentaries, and television content with an emphasis on crosscultural narratives. Under this company, El Assal produced films including Les (Fameux) Gars (2014) and Sawah (2019). Wady Films filed for insolvency in late 2024 after a period of financial restructuring.[10][11] In the same year, El Assal directed two short films that contributed to the development of his directorial style. La Fameuse Route… (The Notorious Road…, 12 minutes) was screened at over 20 international festivals and received five awards. Mano de Dios (God's Hand, 15 minutes) was shown at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and was selected for multiple other festivals, receiving several awards. Both films drew on El Assal's experiences as an individual of immigrant background living in Luxembourg.[12][13]
In 2007, El Assal directed his first feature-length film, Reste Bien, Mec!, a low-budget production completed in two weeks following his collaboration with Luxembourgish rappers. The film premiered in the largest cinema in Luxembourg and was screened nationally for six weeks.[14][15]
El Assal completed his first formally produced feature, Les Fameux Gars (2012), a €750,000 comedy filmed in 20 days in Luxembourg. Released in France and Belgium in 2013, it featured rapper Orelsan in his first film role. After distributor offers fell short, the film was independently distributed in France via digital platforms. It received multiple nominations at the Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis, including Best Feature Film.[3][16]
El Assal spent seven years developing his second feature, Sawah, completed in 2019. The film, a Luxembourg production with international co-producers, was co-written by El Assal, Dennis Foon, and Sirvan Marogy. Sawah was released on Netflix on 14 May 2020 in 46 countries and is the first Luxembourgish live-action feature by a local director on the platform. It screened at over 100 festivals, won about 34 awards, and was distributed in over 50 countries. The film is part of a planned semi-autobiographical trilogy about the director's experience as an Egyptian raised in Luxembourg.[17][18][19][20]
After Sawah, El Assal directed several episodes of the Belgian comedy-drama series Baraki, produced by 1080 Films and created by Julien Vargas, Peter Ninane, and Fred de Loof. The first season aired on Belgian public television RTBF and was streamed on Netflix France and Benelux. The series, which follows the working-class Berthet family, was renewed for a second season following positive reception. It was the first comedy supported by the relevant production fund to have a 26-minute format.[21]
In 2017, El Assal was chosen by the Luxembourg government to represent cinema in a multidisciplinary project for the Luxembourg Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.[22] He co-wrote and directed the 13-minute Arabic-language short film Full Memory in one day, featuring SyrianDanish actor Mazen Haj Kassem. The film, about a young Syrian refugee in Luxembourg confronting past trauma, screened at the pavilion in January 2022 and was shown at around 70 international film festivals, including the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam.[23][24]
Through Wady Films, El Assal has participated in international co-productions across various genres and regions. Notable projects include My Grandpa Is an Alien (2019),[25] Croatia’s first sci-fi children’s film; Absolutely Must Go (2021),[26] a documentary on the Chagossian displacement; Sharaf (2021),[27] an Arabic-language drama awarded at the JCC Carthage Film Festival; Pamfir (2022),[28] a Ukrainian feature recognized at Cannes and the European Film Awards; Beanie (2022),[29] Slovenia’s first Christmas film; M (2023), a North Macedonian drama distributed in the US; Kanaval (2023), a Canada–Luxembourg co-production honored at the Toronto International Film Festival; Tuk Tuk Eye (2024), an Arabic documentary on the Iraqi October Revolution; and La Zone (2024), a Tunisian-German-Luxembourg-French thriller with Benelux distribution by Wady Media.[30]
El Assal's third feature as director, Hooped, is a coming-of-age comedy-drama co-written with Canadian screenwriter Dennis Foon. The story follows a 17-year-old aspiring entrepreneur and basketball player traveling from Luxembourg to Canada and Egypt. The project was presented at Berlinale Talents 2023, marking El Assal's second participation in the program. The screenplay received a writing grant from Film Fund Luxembourg. Cast members include Kida Khodr Ramadan and Tua El Fawwal.[31][32]