Since the Arab Spring began, Egypt has been crawling through cataclysmic episodes of turmoil. Egypt has seen different avatars of its people who stood defiant in the face of police crackdown, calling for a regime change.

While this may have seemed like a political battle, Egypt's artists were equally involved at every step of the revolution, helping shape the future of their nation. At last, they were able to force the Hosni Mubarak's tyranny down with their relentless protests.

Even though his absence forebodes well for the country in the long haul, there is no denying that the issues facing Egypt are too complex to be resolved soon enough.

And the Egyptian filmmaker Amr Salama's films are precisely doing it the right way by revealing that dreadful social malaise of Egypt especially when it comes to treating people affected by severe health problems. In a way, his work is shaping up the new conscientious thinking among the young citizens of Egypt to fight for their rights.

Thus, he is trying to awaken Egyptians' humanistic grace.

"It just felt right. This is the only thing I liked doing and felt like home. That's why this cinematic obsession turned into my life profession, "Amr says. "Since I don't remember when I became fond of drawing and writing, it's difficult to recall which year it was and at what age it did happen."

Nonetheless, he was willing to open up and discuss how it all came about.

"It was right after high school that I went for an accounting job in order to please my parents. Even then, my mind wasn't at peace wandering hither and thither. But that disguised task couldn't keep me away for far too long from studying the ABC of visual effects, 3D animation and editing till eventually came a point when directing became my destination where these skills learnt by me could be made the most of."

The strange part of it all is that though he has made only two feature films up till now, they both have succeeded. This calls into question the countless loopholes of the dysfunctional Egyptian society and thereby reinforcing the need for a well-thought out debate.

It's his second feature film titled "Asmaa" which has enhanced his profile as a prominent filmmaker across the Arab hemisphere. While talking about his motive behind the picture, he seemed upbeat and said, "I was so much interested [sic] in making a film about the unheralded heroes of the Egyptian society. They are the ones whom we simply pass by on the sidewalk without ever making efforts to know what they are facing and suffering from—especially those who took a stand and had more courage than us when Hosni Mubarak was dethroned."

Asked where he got such a powerful idea from to make it into a film, he said, "Taboos exist everywhere. Likewise, Egypt is plagued with its own. Since I was looking for a subject that affects thousands of people in the country, the story of Asmaa couldn't have been more different and perfect for me to explore and find out what happened to her."

The plot of the movie revolves around bringing to light people's misery in Egypt particularly those with the HIV virus.

"I met a couple of people living with this disease and they told me about Asmaa-the lady who was the HIV positive and what she went through. Unfortunately, she died weeks before I heard about her grueling tale," Salama says.

"In the movie, I have shown how she dies not because of the virus but a severe gall bladder problem which needed an immediate medical attention. When she reaches the hospital to be operated upon for this, she is shunned by the doctors because she is found to have the virus that causes AIDS."

Even then, he appeared to be saddled with a bit of grief too.

"I think it got everybody to stand on their toes and laud it endlessly because the film communicates the universal themes of fear and silence, and specifically when it comes from that part of the world which is already disabled from silence, fear of society and the huge amount of social taboos," he says.

So is the film an effort to reveal how insensitively the Egyptian society looks down upon its citizens if they are found to be suffering from terminal illnesses? He said, "Sure, but it's more than that also. It's about how people judge, discriminate and simply hate every "other" in our societies."

And how disheartened he feels deep within when he sees this sort of narrow-mindedness prevailing in the mindset of his countrymen, he exploded and replied angrily, "It's just painful. It's affecting everything and everybody—politics, society, women and even children, and always reminds us that we still have a long way to go to dream of a society we all hope for."

Full of intense curiosity and confidence, he didn't hesitate to point out, "I would like Egypt to shine just as it did at Tahrir Square during the 18 decisive days of revolution. Even I participated in the Uprising along with my fellow citizens. That's when we finally made a stand and faced all our fears at once. I think this was the closest thing to Utopia."

During our conversation, he wasn't ready to acknowledge that the structure of Egyptian society is fragile like glass. When pressed further to reveal about this aspect, he said, "I can't call 'is fragile'. I can call it diverse, and we never knew how diverse it was before the revolution and it will take each one of us time and effort to learn how to co-exist with others."

The art community in Egypt is nowhere close to delving freely into subjects of their choice. "We still have a strict censorship which is very suffocating. It does nothing but prevents new ideas from thriving, "Salama says. "Though we dare to go against the conservative ideals and follow our ambitions with cataclysmic consequences, I have been lucky to have never been attacked or threatened for what I do." Or whether Egypt has gained or lost since the revolt, he said with optimism, "The revolution hasn't ended at all. More importantly, the demands it generated haven't been met yet. At this time, it won't be right to evaluate the overall impact. We need to wait a few more years."

"My next film will focus on religious discrimination and the deteriorating relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt. It would be another adventurous project of mine, "Salama says. "I get inspiration from every street corner in the country I can find as Egypt is full of drama. It just needs you to look closely before it gives you the best stories you can ever tell."