The 3rd Zawya Short Film Festival awards

CAIRO – 11 February 2018: The 3rd Zawya Short Film Festival granted four awards to four short films one Jury special mention. 15 in total films were competing for the awards.

The Best Film Award worth LE 15,000 went to “Major Tom”, a short film directed by Khaled Medhat Moeit and sponsored by Red Star Films. The film was also screened at the Copper Coast Short Film Festival.

The festival granted the Misr International Films Best Director Award worth LE 15,000 to the Egyptian director Muhammed Taymour for his short film “From the Remains of the Dead”.

“Marchedaire” (Into Reverse) directed by Noha Adel won the Film Clinic Jury Prize, worth LE 10,000. The film has been previously screened at the 15th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

The Birthmark Films Best Script award went to” Something Cold” by Amrosh Badr. The award grants Badr a scriptwriting mentorship. The film was screened at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival last year.

The jury Special Mention was given to the animated film “The Unknown Sweet Potato Seller” by Roshdy Ahmed. The film is set in the days of the revolution telling the story of an Egyptian artist who seeks justice, and a sweet young potato seller who was shot dead in the street.

“The Unknown Sweet Potato Seller” stars Khaled Abo el-Naga and Tara Emad. It also won an award for Best Animated Film at the Miami International Short Film Festival.
On February 2 Zawya posted an apology statement to its audience on its Facebook page because it was not able to screen “The Unknown Sweet Potato Seller” stating that the film was not given the censors’ permit, affirming that it is still part of the selection and is eligible for the awards.

A similar situation happened at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival, where the film was first premiered. DIFF issued a statement 24 hours prior to the screening time, cancelling the film’s screening due to special circumstances.The Zawya festival jury was formed of three prominent Egyptian filmmakers: Ayten Amin, Marouan Omara, and Sherif el-Bendary.