The Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival awards

CAIRO – 5 February 2018: The Egyptian Cinema Film Association Festival announced the awards of its 44th edition on Sunday.
The famous actress Shereen Reda was awarded the best actress on her role in “Photocopy”, while the well-known actor Mohamed Saad won the best actor award on his role in “El Kenz” (The treasure) movie.
The veteran director Sherif Arafa won the best director award for “El Kenz” that also won the best film award. “Photocopy” director Tamer Ashry won the best first work award.

The plot of “El Kenz” spans the Pharaonic, Abbasid, Ottoman and modern eras, ending in the 1970s. The movie revolves around corruption and the mixing of religion with politics. It portrays religious figures using their authority as a means to gain political power.


The movie boasts a dazzling cast of Egyptian stars, including Mohamed Ramadan, Amina Khalil, Sawsan Badr, Mohy Ismail, Mohamed Saad, Hend Sabry and Ahmed Rezk. “El Kenz” was written by Abdel Reheem Kamal.

“Photocopy” tells the story of an elderly man who, upon his retirement, decides to open a photocopying shop. He begins to re-discover life, his love for his neighbour and the people around him.

The movie stars Mahmoud Hemeida, Sherine Reda, Farah Youssef, Aly Tayeb and Ahmed Dash, amongst others. It was written by Haitham Dabbour and directed by Tamer Ashry.

Egyptian journalist and “Photocopy” scriptwriter, Haitham Dabbour, previously stated in an interview with Egypt Today that he chose to present a love story between an elderly couple because these types of love stories, “have not been well-presented in Egyptian cinema.”

The script was nominated for the Sawiris Cultural Awards. Dabbour explained that he worked a lot on the script to develop it before reaching the final version. He began writing it in 2013 and finished it a year later.


The movie tackles issues and problems facing the elderly, topics that are rarely addressed in Egyptian cinema. “Photocopy” premiered at the first edition of the GFF, and won the Gouna Golden Star Award for Best Arabic Feature Narrative Film. The movie was also screened at the fifth International Arab Cinema Meetings in Marseille on November 22.

“Photocopy” was shown as the closing film at the Arabian Cinema Week in New York City on November 23. The Arabian Cinema Week was organized by Moviepigs, an online platform tailor-made to screen Middle Eastern films. The film was screened in the Cairo International Film Festival on Friday, November 24. “Photocopy” screened for the first time in Egyptian cinemas on December 20. The movie made LE 57,000 on its opening day and LE 79,000 the following day.