'Warqet Shagar' wins Best Expressionist Award at RAGFF

CAIRO – 16 December 2018: The film “Warqet Shagar” (Tree leaf) directed by Bichara Shoukry won the Best Expressionist Award at the Retro Avant Garde Film Festival (RAGFF) 2018 in Venice.

The film is produced by the Egyptian Film Centre, headed by Khaled Abdel Jalil, the minister of culture's advisor for Cinema. The production was supervised by Manar Hosny, the general manager of the film production department.

The film revolves around a girl called Salma, recalling memories of the past and trying to revive them. As she does, the spectators discover Salma herself is only a memory.
The RAGFF is an annual festival that focuses on short video media; films and documentaries that do not exceed 40 minutes. The Retro Avant Garde Film Festival aka RAGFF is an independent and private organization that is not affiliated to any political or religious entity.

The festival’s mission is to promote, propagate and explore the understanding of every form of expression relevant to cinema, prioritizing every retro/Avant Garde art expression that moves forward at the edge of new forms of human expression through visual arts and moving sound images (experimental audio visuals, short films, feature films, documentaries, public encounters, educational encounters) throughout the year.

The RAGFF aims to host the festival every year at a different city from a different country, while promoting arts, bringing different cultures and societies together.