Aly Abdel Khalek to head the feature movies jury of ENFF

CAIRO – 18 October 2017: The management of the 21st edition of the Egyptian National Film Festival management chose the veteran Egyptian director Aly Abdel Khalek to head the feature movies jury.

The other jury members are Mohamed Shafik, Adel al-Maghraby, Khaled Hammad, Nehad Ibrahim, Fatma Naaout, and Ashraf Mohamed.

The festival awards are worth about LE 21 million ($1.2 million). The feature movies competition houses a group of notable films like “Men 30 Sana” (30 Years Ago), “Eshtebak” (Clash), and “Nawara” among others. Following the Oscars' footsteps, the festival cancelled its opening ceremony this year, announcing that there will only be a closing ceremony, expected to take place in Cairo Opera House.

The 21st edition of the Egyptian National Film Festival will kick off from October 18 to 26. The slogan of this edition, headed by the veteran Egyptian director Samir Seif is “Cinema Shoa'a' Lel Ghad” (Cinema Beam for Tomorrow).

The Egyptian National Film Festival is going to honor a group of renowned filmmakers like the great actress Lobna Abdel Aziz, the famous Egyptian director Khairy Beshara, the well-known cinema photography director Mohsen Ahmed and montage specialist Laila Fahmy.

“Preserving the presence of a competition between the local Egyptian films only, without the participation of foreign films, supports and activates the Egyptian film industry, especially since the majority of its elements are young. Therefore we must motivate them to continue their journey with huge financial prizes in order to help them develop and give their best,” Seif recounted.

Seif explained that it is impossible to have Egyptian movies if we do not support Egyptian film-makers both financially and morally. He expressed his sincere wishes that this edition of the festival be as successful as previous ones; as all the participating movies were carefully chosen.