Cairo Film Festival to Honor Terry Gilliam

Director Terry Gilliam will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his outstanding career at the 41st edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which runs from November (20-29).

He is scheduled to receive the award at the festival opening ceremony, which will be held at the Cairo Opera House.

Terry's career has spanned four decades presenting outstanding contributions to the film industry, and marking his place as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.

The Oscar-nominated and BAFTA Fellowship director will also take part in a conversation with discussion in Cairo at the Opera House.

This rare event provides the audiences with an unmissable opportunity to gain an insight into his life, career, and achievements.

The festival will also host special screenings to his 1985's film "Brazil" and to 2018's film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote".

“It's a great honor to be recognized with this award by the Cairo International Film Festival, I am very excited to be visiting Egypt in November to meet with audiences and filmmakers to celebrate storytelling,” Gilliam said.

“Terry Gilliam is a genius filmmaker, a maverick who has an extraordinary gift for storytelling," added Cairo Film Festival president Moh Hefzy. "His films are wildly imaginative and sublime, submerging audiences into dizzying dystopias and whimsical fairy tales; he is undoubtedly one of the true greats of cinema. His remarkable, visionary body of work, which spans over 40 years, has seen him craft some of the most unique, epic and captivating films ever made."

Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor, comedian and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.

The 78-year-old first gained recognition when he made his mark on pop culture as a founding member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, which first broadcast on television in the United Kingdom, in 1969. His distinctive storytelling flair and remarkable creativity quickly in storytelling soon propelled him into the director’s chair for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and segments of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983) alongside Terry Jones.

(CIFF) is one of the 15 Festivals accorded category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations FIAPF, according to Cairo International Film Festival.

It is the oldest cultural event in Africa and the Middle East.

The Festival was launched in 1976 by the writer-critic Kamal el Mallakh to enhance the role of Egypt in the world of cinema and to serve as a bridge between the cultures of the world.

Egypt has enjoyed a strong cinematic tradition since the art of filmmaking was first developed, in 1896.