‘Lost Paradise’, ‘The Man Behind the Microphone’ to screen at CIWFF

CAIRO – 26 February – 2018: The 11th Cairo International Women’s Film Festival will screen “Lost Paradise” and "The Man Behind the Microphone" movies.

“Lost Paradise” by Reine Mitri will be screened for the first time in Egypt, the screening will be followed by a discussion seminar with the movie’s director. The plot takes place in Beirut and revolves around cultural memories and the post-war reconstruction process. The film is expressive of Mitri’s continuous fear of loss, from the losses loved ones to the places of personal and collective memory.

Starting with images of her deceased husband, she embarked in a journey into memory, filming her mother and her childhood places, regathering her father’s memory and filming Beirut’s historical strata and the city’s alienating present. Interweaving intimate and public spaces and times, past and present, she wondered that if by preserving traces through cinema she could find consolation to loss.

"The Man Behind the Microphone" tackles the life of Tunisia's most popular music star Hedi Jouini. The movie screening will be followed by a seminar with its director Claire Belhassine. Hedi Jouini known as the “Frank Sinatra of Tunisia” is the most popular musical star in Tunisian history.

His songs continue to inspire revolutionaries and conservatives alike, striking at the heart of the post-colonial social and political upheaval of Tunisia and its continuing search for identity in the wake of the Arab Spring. The movie will highlight why he kept his fame hidden from his family in addition to the dark secrets he kept from the Tunisian nation that literally worshiped him.

This year, the CIWFF is hosting a group of films directed by students from La Fémis cinema school in Paris, which is considered one of the most important cinema schools in Europe. In addition to screening five student films, the school’s Head of International Affairs Julie Tingaud will give an introduction about the school, its vision and activities.

The Cairo International Women’s Film Festival started for the first time in 2008. It was tailor made to present films made by female filmmakers, encouraging more female filmmakers to make their movies. CIWFF is concerned with offering a new type of cinema not the familiar commercial ones to the Egyptian audience.

Lebanon was chosen by the festival management to be the guest of honour of its 11th edition. This is the first time for the festival to have an Arab country as the guest of honor, this is because of the unique Lebanese filming experience, and most important because of the leading role played by female filmmakers in this country cinema production.

The 11th edition of the festival will present a new project dedicating to supporting female filmmakers in their post-production stage which is the Rough-cut workshop that is scheduled to host 6 Arab films. The six female filmmakers behind these films will be meeting a jury of experienced women filmmakers to guide them through the development stages of their films. At the end, the festival will grant the winning movie with post-production support.