The 2021 Cairo Francophone Film Festival (CFFF) has revealed its award winners in a number of categories.
The Senegalese film “Mami Wata”, directed by Christian Thiam, won the Grand Prix of the CFFF, the "Golden Lotus" award.
The film received the Grand Prix award due to the freshness of its story and illustrating stories about the encounters with the ancient African legend Mami Wata that are widespread across entire Africa.
Habib Allah Sar, the second cultural advisor to the Embassy of Senegal in Cairo, had received the award.
The Canadian film “Wars”, directed by Nicolas Roy, won the Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali Award for the best screenplay.
The film tackles a humanitarian issue and presents a new dramatic model for women.
The Special Jury Prize went to the French film “Towards the Battle”, directed by Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux.
The film spotlights a special kind of war, which is the internal conflict the heroine experiences through a harsh ordeal and determination to bravely resist.
The winners of the feature films were announced by the jury headed by the great director Hany Lasheen. The jury included members actress Elham Shahin, director of photography Dr. Mohsen Ahmed, critic and journalist Amal Othman, musician Ashraf Mahrous, scriptwriter Wissam Suleiman, and Lebanese actor-producer Fadi Al-Lund.
“The Short Film Awards”
The Moroccan-British film "Akhou", directed by Assia Ismaili, received a special mention from the jury.
The film is based on mythology and celebrates the simple rituals of life as well as focusing on the struggles of childhood in a harsh environment.
The Moroccan short film “Revolutionary Baby”, directed by Sheherezade El Moumni Berdai, won the Special Jury Prize. Regarding the humanity, the film tackled it in an elaborate cinematic language and top-notch acting skills.
The best short film went to the French-Senegalese film “Family Song”, directed by Caroline Pochon.
The film presented a simple and enjoyable cinematic language and depicted the rich journey of human life as well as taking the viewers on a journey of incubating humanity and believing in persity.
Actress Salwa Mohamed Aly chaired the short film jury, which consisted of actress Nahed El Sebaï, documentary filmmaker Ezzedine Said, and Algerian critic Fatima Baroud.
The winning films were screened Thursday at Civilization Cinema throughout the day.
The inaugural edition of CFFF took place from December 11-16.
It was hosted at three venues the Small Theater, the Center for Artistic Creativity, and the Civilization Cinema Center at the Cairo Opera House.
The edition witnessed the screenings of 23 films from 10 Francophone countries: Egypt, France, Canada, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE, Lebanon, Burkina Faso, and England.
In addition, the event also held a number of cinematic activities and workshops, including a discussion session titled “Egypt and 50 Years of Francophonie”.
The session was attended by Ambassador Khaled Aref, Plenipotentiary Minister and Director of Francophonie Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Marwa El Sahn, Director of the BA Center of Francophone Activities (CAF), critic Salah Hashem, and Producer Marian Khoury.
A dialogue was also held on the art of acting with the participation of the great actor Ahmed Kamal, who had a strong presence in the event.
Contributed by Yara Sameh
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