2 Egyptians Variety Magazines’ List of 500 Most Important People

Variety Magazine announced its list of 500 most influential people in the entertainment and media industry around the world.

The list included Egyptian producer and scriptwriter Mohamed Hefzy, the president of the Cairo International Film Festival, and businessman Naguib Sawiris, the founder of the El Gouna Film Festival.

The list also included prominent figures in this field, such as Robert Eiger, the Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, American talk show host Oprah Winfrey, directors Martin Scorsese, and Stephen Spielberg, Netflix Chief Content Officer of Netflix Ted Sarandos.

From the Arab world, the list included Prince Turki Al-Shabana, the Minister of Entertainment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and. Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi, the Chief Executive Officer of Doha Film Institute.

The figures included in the magazine’s list are chosen through comprehensive research by the magazine’s editors, depending on the achievements of the 500 figures over the past 12 months.

Variety magazine explained that Mohamed Hefzy was selected as the youngest president of the Cairo International Film Festival thanks to his role in reviving the festival, in addition to being chosen as a member of the jury of Afaq “Horizons” competition at the Venice International Film Festival.

He was also selected because his work as a producer of a number of important films, such as "Yom El Din", which participated in the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival two years ago and won the François Chalet Prize.

Contributed by Basant Ahmed