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Egyptian film critic and programmer Mohamed Tarek has been named artistic director of Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff).

The appointment was revealed today (February 16) by the festival’s president, Hussein Fahmy, at the Berlinale and Tarek takes on the role with immediate effect. He replaces Essam Zakaria, who held the position for the 45th edition of the festival last year.

Tarek has notable experience at Ciff having previously served as artistic consultant for last year’s edition and was deputy artistic director for the 44th edition in 2022 (the festival did not take place in 2023).

He is also a programmer at...

Everything old was new again at this year’s Cairo Film Festival.

Filling out a super-sized 45th edition, the Egyptian event introduced a new section dedicated to heritage titles, showcasing 10 gems of world cinema, among them titles like “The Lonely Wife” and “The Color of Pomegranates” to mark the centenaries of film greats Satyajit Ray and Sergei Parajanov, as well as 4K restorations of “The Godfather Part II,” “The Thief of Baghdad” and “Cleopatra,” among several more.

As part of a bolstered Cairo Classics program, the festival also premiered 14 milestones of Egyptian cinema freshly remastered and reintroduced to an eager public. And as the Cairo Film Festival charts a new course under president Hussein Fahmy and artistic director Essam Zakarea, this restorative vocation will stay a cornerstone of their wider mission.

“Egyptian cinema is one of the oldest in the world, but we have a problem with our archive,” Zakarea tells Variety.

In a heartfelt and sincere acceptance speech, Mohannad Al-Bakri — the Managing Director of the Jordanian Royal Film Commission (Rfc) — dedicated the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year Award, which he received from the Arab Cinema Center (Acc) at this year's edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), to Palestinian filmmakers, while also acknowledging the Acc's role in elevating the film industry and amplifying the voices of Arab storytellers on a global scale.

The award ceremony was held at Acc's booth at the Berlinale on Saturday, February 18th in the presence of notable figures in the film industry, including two previous recipients of the aforementioned award — producer and scriptwriter Mohamed Hefzy and Mohamed Keblawi, the Founder and General Manager of the Malmo Arab Film Festival — President of the Cairo International Film Festival Hussein Fahmy, and filmmaker Marianne Khoury.

With genuine humility and gratitude, Al-Bakri expressed his deep appreciation for being...

Bosnian director and screenwriter Danis Tanović, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, has been selected as the president of the Official Competition Jury at the 45th edition of the Cairo Film Festival.

As well as the Oscar, “No Man’s Land” won best screenplay at Cannes in 2001. Tanović has also directed films such as 2005’s “L’enfer,” starring Emmanuelle Béart, 2009’s “Shell Shock,” starring Colin Farrell and Paz Vega, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2013, and “Death in Sarajevo,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2016.

Amir Ramsis, director of the festival, said Danis Tanović had been “crowned in cinema history with major international awards from the Academy, Cannes and Berlin.” He added: “I am delighted that our festival has always given its audience the opportunity to interact with names that...

Egyptian director has made films including Cannes 2012 Competition title ‘After the Battle’.

Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah will receive the Golden Pyramid honorary award for lifetime achievement at the 45th edition of Cairo International Film Festival.

The award will be given ‘in appreciation of what Nasrallah has presented throughout his fabulous artistic career’, according to the festival.

Having started his career as an assistant to Youssef Chahine in the 1980s, Nasrallah went on to make his own features including 1999 Locarno title El Medina, and Cannes entries including 2004’s The Gate of Sun and 2012’s Competition entry After The Battle.

His most...

Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury’s fiery coming-of-age drama “Alam” (The Flag) took home the Golden Pyramid at the Cairo Intl. Film Festival, which wrapped with a glitzy award ceremony in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday night.

Khoury’s politically charged debut, which world premiered at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, struck a chord with both the international jury, headed by Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase, and moviegoers in Cairo, who also handed “Alam” the audience award. At a rousing Middle East premiere on Nov. 18, moviegoers burst into applause several times during the screening.

Khoury, who addressed the audience at Cairo’s Opera House with a pre-recorded message, was unable to attend the festival. The director, an Israeli citizen traveling on a Palestinian passport, was not granted a visa by Egyptian authorities.

“Alam” follows a Palestinian-Israeli teen who undergoes a political awakening sparked by a pretty, outspoken girl from his high school class,...

Oliver Stone to head features competition jury.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the programme for its second edition (December 1-10), with Studiocanal and Working Title’s romantic comedy What’s Love Got To Do With It? playing as the opening night gala.

Directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan, What’s Love Got To Do With It? stars Lily James and Shazad Latif in the story of two people from different cultures who fall in love. It launched at the Toronto International FIlm Festival in September.

Rsiff will close with the world...

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age drama The Fabelmans has been announced as the opening film of 44th Cairo International Film Festival, running from November 13 to 22.

This year’s edition of the historic Egyptian festival will unfold under the direction of a new management team following the departure of former head Mohamed Hefzy in March.

Veteran actor Hussein Fahmy returns as president at the festival, a role he held in the past, while respected Egyptian film programmer Amir Ramses has taken up the baton of artistic director.

This year’s main International Competition features Ahmad Abdalla’s 19B (Egypt), Firas Khoury’s Alam (Palestine), Nicolas’s Giraud’s The Astronaut (France), Pierre Földes’s Blind Willow Sleeping Woman (France), Damian Kocur’s Bread And Salt (Poland), Maksym Nakonechnyi’s Butterfly Vision (Ukraine), Ali Cherri’s The Dam, Ivan Löwenberg’s I Don’t Want To Be Dust (Mexico), Ridha Behi...

Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” will open the 44th edition of the Cairo Film Festival, the Arab world’s venerable cinematic showcase, which takes place Nov. 13 – 22.

The Oscar-winning director’s semi-autobiographical film, which follows the formative years of a young man who discovers movies as a means to help him see the truth about others and himself, earned a standing ovation following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

This year’s event in the Egyptian capital, which takes place as most film festivals and industry events have returned to business as usual after two years of pandemic cancellations and disruptions, nevertheless unfolds against a backdrop of global uncertainty.

Festival president Hussein Fahmy conjured the specter of war in Ukraine as he described a “year of ambitions and challenges” in a statement, posing the questions: “Where do we go from here? How can the festival take new steps, in particular,...

Festival

Japanese director Kawase Naomi will lead the international competition jury of the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (Nov. 13-22).

Kawase won the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature film at Cannes for “Moe no Suzaku” (1997) and also won awards there for “Mogari no Mori” (2007) and “Hikari” (2017). In 2000, her film “Hotaru” won the Fipresci award at Locarno.

Cairo festival president Hussein Fahmy said that Kawase has had a distinguished career and possesses great experience that qualified her to obtain prestigious awards from various international festivals.

Festival director Amir Ramses added that the presence of an award-winning female director with such a successful career and rich filmography is a great inspiration to female filmmakers in Egypt.

Solidarity

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (Icfr) has declared solidarity with all those in Iran who stand up for their basic human rights and the freedom of expression.

“This is a revolution...

Japanese director Naomi Kawase will preside over the international jury of the 44th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, running November 13 to 22.

The Cannes regular was the youngest person to receive its Camera d’Or for Suzaku in 1997 and has since screened six films in its competition including Radiance (2014) and 2007 Grand Jury Prize winner The Mourning Forest.

This year’s edition of Ciff sees the return of veteran actor Hussein Fahmy in the role of president at the festival, following the departure of former head Mohamed Hefzy in March.

Incoming artistic director Amir Ramses will also present his inaugural selection.

“The presence of a cinematic talent Naomi Kawase, as head of the international competition jury is a continuation of the successful tradition established by Ciff over the years to invite the world’s leading filmmakers to this position,” said Ramses.

He added that he hoped that Kawase’s attendance...

The festival is under new management following the departure of former Ciff president Mohamed Hefzy.

The Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) has announced its 44th edition will run on the earlier dates of November 13-22, having unfolded towards the end of November in recent editions.

The announcement comes as veteran actor Hussein Fahmy and filmmaker and experienced programmer Amir Ramses take over the reins of the festival as president and director respectively, following the departure of former Ciff president Mohamed Hefzy.

The earlier dates will see Ciff clash with another major Middle East and North Africa event, Morocco’s Marrakech...

Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses, who has tackled controversial social and political themes including pedophilia in works such as “Curfew” and the doc “Jews of Egypt,” has been appointed director of the Cairo Film Festival.

The news that Ramses will head Cairo, which is the grande dame of Arab film events, follows shortly after prominent producer Mohamed Hefzy stepped down as Cairo fest president earlier this month.

Hefzy was replaced as fest president by veteran Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy, 81, a local megastar, who is taking over the event’s presidency for the second time after a first term between 1998 to 2001.

Ramses, who was previously artistic director of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival between 2017 to 2021, is now expected to take on a broader role at Cairo extending beyond artistic director into a general manager position.

A graduate of Cairo’s Higher Institute of Cinema, Ramses cut his teeth as a film...

Egyptian filmmaker was previously artistic director of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.

Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses has been appointed director of the Cairo International Film (Ciff), as the event restructures its team following the departure of Mohamed Hefzy as president last week.

Ramses was appointed by incoming Ciff president Hussein Fahmy who returns to the role for a second time after a first term from 1998 to 2001.

Ramses was previously artistic director of the El Gouna Film Festival from 2017 to 2021.

A graduate of Cairo’s Higher Institute of Cinema in 2000, he cut his teeth as a filmmaker as an assistant to director Youssef Chahine.

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is stepping down as president of the Cairo Film Festival. During his four-year tenure, the executive helped to revamp the prominent Arab fest, which had been losing luster due to political turbulence.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Enas Abdel Dayem, who said veteran Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy will take over the fest’s presidency.

Fahmy, who is 81, has starred in more than 100 Egyptian film, TV and theater productions. A UCLA graduate with some U.S. connections, Fahmy had previously headed the Cairo fest, which is the grande dame of Arab film events, between 1998 and 2001.

“I am proud to have spent the past four years as president of Cairo International Film Festival, working with a great team of talented individuals with the aim of lifting the festival towards bigger local, regional and international recognition and for being a platform to...

He will be replaced by veteran actor Hussein Fahmy.

The Egyptian Ministry of Culture has announced that producer Mohamed Hefzy is stepping down as president of the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) to be replaced by veteran actor Hussein Fahmy, who returns to the role having previously held the position from 1998 to 2001.

Hefzy was appointed as director of Ciff in 2018 and has been credited with putting the event back on the international map during his four years at the helm.

He only expected to be in the role for a year or two but ended up overseeing four editions, with...