41st Cairo Int'l Film Festival Kicks Off Tonight

The 41st edition of the Cairo International Film Festival “CIFF” will roll out the red carpet for its opening Wednesday evening at the Grand Theater of the Cairo Opera House.

Many public figures, Egyptian, Arab, and global stars are expected to attend the opening ceremony.

The 41st edition, runs November (20 -29), will be headed by producer Mohamed Hefzy, and hold the name of Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, late critic and CIFF’s artistic director.

 

Opening ceremony

The festival will be hosted by the three Egyptian stars, Khaled El Sawy, Dina Elsherbiny, and Ahmed Dawood.

Martin Scorcese’s “The Irishman”, co-starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, will be screened at CIFF’s opening night, in its first Middle East and North Africa premiere, which will take place at Cairo Opera House on November 20.

Moreover, TV presenters Engy Ali and Sherif Nour El-Din will present the ceremony activities.

The festival will also celebrate the film industry with a show, after a speech by Minister of Culture Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, and CIFF's president.

Honoree

The opening ceremony will witness the honoring of Egyptian and global stars; American-British legend Terry Gilliam and Egyptian director Sherif Arafa will receive Faten Hamama Honorary Award.

Moreover, Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby will be awarded the Faten Hamama Excellence Award for her rich cinematic career.

The festival will also bid farewell the celebrities that departed from our world this year, topped by Rizkallah, who passed away last July.

“DMC” channel will broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies in addition to the daily events from the festival through news broadcast and on social media.

Guest of Honor

CIFF has chosen the Mexican cinema as the Guest of Honor for its 41st edition.

The festival will feature eight Mexican films, and honors two of its makers, screenwriter and director Guillermo Arriaga, and director Carlos Reygadas.

Cairo Days for the Film Industry

Moreover, the festival will hold the second edition of Cairo Days for the Film Industry (CFC); it is scheduled to run from November 21 to 26.

CFC will host a range of cinematographic activities, such as panel discussions, lectures, and dialogues given by international experts who will address narrative, cinematic narrative and the turn of fiction into reality.

Cairo Days for the Film Industry provides professionals with opportunities for partnership and networking with the international film community.

It will also hold seminars, workshops, discussion panels, meetings, and training workshops.

 

Participating Films

CIFF will screen over 150 films, which includes 130 feature films, 20 short films, 18 world premieres, and International premieres 17

Moreover, 63 countries will participate in the festival, including 84 MENA premieres, 5 African premieres, and 7 Middle East premieres.

Programme

The festival’s world and international premieres that are variously distributed among its programme, which includes three world premieres: “Zavera” by Andrei Gruzsniczki from Romania, “The Borders” by David David from Colombia, and “Between Heaven and Earth” by Najwa Najjar, a Palestinian-Jordanian co-production.

It also includes two international premieres: “The Fourth Wall” by Zhang Chong and Zhang BO from China, “The Friendly Man” by Iberê Carvalho from Brazil, and“On the Crossbar” by Sami Tlili, a Tunisia-France co-production.

There are also three world premieres at the Arab Cinema competition: “Beirut Terminus” by Ellie Kamal, a Lebanese-UAE co-production, “For The Cause” by Hassan Benjelloun from Morocco, and “The Women in Block J” by Mohamed Nadif, also from Morocco.

Festival Juries

The International Jury includes USA writer Stephen Gaghan, Belgium director Marion Hansel, Mexico director Michel Franco, Italian director Daniele Luchetti, Egyptian writer Ibrahim Abdel Meguid, and Chinese actress Qin Hailu.

Piers Handling, Canadian programmer will president Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition Jury, which includes Egyptian actress Hana Shiha, Belgium producer Steven Kitanov, Morocco producer Lamia Chraibi, and Tunisian Musician Amine Bouhafa.

Meanwhile, the International Critics’ Week Competition Jury will consist of Irish critic Jessica Kiang, Jordanian critic Najeh Abushomer, Critic, Jordan, and Egyptian director Nadine Khan.

Prizes will be awarded to the winning film projects in the development and post-production stages, which are totaled $200,000.