A Heart Loves Only Once
Directed by Eman Thabet
Egypt · 2025 · 18 min 13 sec · Drama
Submitted to OnShow International Film Festival 2026Synopsis
"A Heart Loves Only Once" unfolds over one charged confrontation between a man and his former mistress. While his wife and children are away, a man (Yehia) receives an unexpected visit from his former mistress (Nouran), who has unfinished business with him. Armed with an odd list of unexpected demands, she is determined to make him pay for ending their relationship. What follows is a darkly comic negotiation inside the man's children’s bedroom, where the balance of power keeps shifting and neither seems ready to let go. An uneasy agreement may bring the confrontation to an end, but not necessarily the past.
Director
I'm Eman Thabet, an Egyptian writer-director and multidisciplinary artist with a soft spot for messy emotions, uncomfortable silences, and stories that make you laugh when you probably shouldn't. With a background in English Literature and Theatre, I've moved between cinema, theatre, and digital storytelling, wearing different hats depending on what a story needs from me. I'm drawn to the absurdity of human behavior, the contradictions we live with, and the things we say versus the things we actually mean. *A Heart Loves Only Once* marks my debut as a short film writer-director. I'm interested in making honest, character-driven work that doesn't underestimate its audience or pretend people are any simpler than they are. I'm still figuring things out, experimenting, and making things because I can't seem to stop myself from doing so.
Trailer
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Film stills
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OnShow International Film Festival — Inaugural Edition · 2026