The management of the annual Cairo Film Society Festival, headed by Director of Cinematography Mahmoud Abdel Samie, announced that the 47th and 48th session will be held from January 29 to February 5 at the Creativity Center at the Egyptian Opera House, while the awards and honors ceremony are about to take place on the 12th of February, noting that this session will be exceptional in many of its details, especially with the cancellation of last year’s one as a result of the pandemic.
Almost all the artistic activities stopped for a period, and therefore the results of the Egyptian films that were shown commercially in Egyptian theaters during the year 2020, which reached 21 Egyptian films, and also in 2021, will both be released, to totally reach 26 films.
As part of his conversation, Abdel Samie said: “ The festival seeks to present the state of Egyptian cinema and monitor what it presented through the works that were shown in Egyptian theaters every year, but with the conditions of the corona and the closure, there is a new mediator that must be dealt with, which is the digital platforms, the festival management added an item in the festival list to cope with this angle”.
It stipulates the participation of films that were shown on these platforms of Egyptian production to compete for the festival awards through the jury’s views of them, especially since during the closure period it performed the role of cinemas, where 3 films compete during 2020, and two works during 2021.
He also added, "Through a general referendum in which members of the association, critics, journalists and a number of filmmakers participate, to choose the best of the works that were shown during the year 2020, the result was the selection of 5 films that were shown in theaters and digital platforms, and they are according to the date of their presentation, "Youm w Leila" by Ayman Makram, And “Sondok El Donia” by Imad Al-Bahat, “Saheb El Makam” by Muhammad Jamal Al-Adl, “Tawaam Rohy” by Othman Abu Laban, and finally the movie “Hazr Tagawol” by Amir Ramses, to be the films of the 47th session of the festival, and the films of 2021, were “Waefet Regala” by Ahmed El-Gendy, “Al-Arif” by Ahmed Alaa El-Deeb, “El Ens w El Nems” by Sherif Arafa, “Moussa” by Peter Mimi, “200 Geneh” by Muhammad Amin, and “Bara El Manhag” by Amr Salama. And "Abu Saddam" by Nadine Khan, and finally, "Kabel Lel Kasr" competes for the first two branches of director Ahmed Rashwan's work, and the acting by Hanan Mutawa.
As for the developments that were also added to the festival, Abdel Samie said, "We also added a new item to the list of Arab feature films that were shown in Egyptian theaters, as a referendum was conducted on them by members of the association, critics, journalists and some filmmakers, as it will be awarded a certificate from the members of the Film Association as the best Arab film A feature-length novel that was shown only in Egyptian theaters last year, and 6 films competed in the vote: “Between Heaven and Earth” by Palestinian director Najwa Najjar, “You will die at twenty” by Sudanese director Amjad Abu Al-Ala, and “200 meters” by Palestinian director Amin Nayfeh, “If You Want, Like Heaven” by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, “The Man Who Sold His Back” by Tunisian director Kawthar Ben Haniyeh, and the last movie “Gaza Monamour” by Palestinian director Arab Nasser.
Under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, the yearly Film Society Festival is held in collaboration with the Syndicate of Film Professions and the Cultural Development Fund. The films in which the members of the association participate are chosen from among those exhibited during the previous year's festival. It is the only festival in which the festival's management chooses the films; film owners do not apply to participate in the festival, and the best films are chosen by members of the association voting on the top seven films exhibited. It is the only year-round festival that has been held on a regular basis for many years and has not halted since its inception in 1975, by the Film Association’s critics and filmmakers.
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