Hefzy now a jury member of international competition at Venice Film Festival

CAIRO – 28 July 2018: The, the famed Egyptian producer and screenwriter and head of Cairo International Film Festival, Mohamed Hefzy, has been selected as a jury member of the international competition, Orizzonti, at the Venice Film Festival.

Hefzy was selected as the president of the 40th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) on April, following acclaimed Egyptian film critic Magda Wasef.

"I attended the Cairo International Film Festival as an audience member, a filmmaker, and then a member of the festival's team in recent years. To be chosen as president of one of the most important and oldest festivals in the Arab world, I've mixed feelings of happiness and responsibility,” Hefzy previously stated on his official Facebook page.

Hefzy added on his Facebook page that his main plan is to develop the festival, solve the problems of the previous editions, and build on the efforts and achievements that have been executed before.

“What makes me enthusiastic is to cooperate with the salient Youssef Sherif Rizkalla as he continues in his position as the Artistic Director of the Festival. I'm very thankful to the Minister of Culture, Ines Abdel-Dayem, for her confidence in me."

Mohamed Hefzy is an Egyptian film producer and screenwriter who was born in 1975. He is the founder of the Film Clinic that is now considered as one of the leading production companies in Egypt and the Arab world.

Hefzy is also a film activist who gives workshops and training programs conducted in cooperation with acclaimed international organizations and institutes.

In 2013, Hefzy was named by Screen International as the only Arab among 30 future leaders in film production. In 2016, he was chosen by Variety on top of a list of Ten Names You Need to Know in the Arab Film Industry.

His films have participated widely in numerous prominent film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, and Toronto, and have won more than 80 international awards. In 2016, one of his latest productions (Clash) was chosen as the opening film of the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Film Festival.

In 2011, Hefzy was a jury member at several local and Arab festivals such as the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival. He is familiar with Cairo International Film Festival as he was on the Advisory Board of CIFF, an advisor for the Cairo Film Connection (CFC), and a jury member of the CIFF in 2010.

Hefzy is a former director of the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts, and is currently a board member of the Egyptian Chamber of Cinema since 2013, and continues to represent and lobby for independent filmmakers in Egypt and throughout the Arab world.