5th Alexandria Short Film Festival kicks off Apr. 3

CAIRO - 2 April 2019: The fifth edition of Alexandria Short Film Festival will kick off April 3-8 at Feryal Cinema, located at “Mahatet el-Raml” in Alexandria governorate.

The festival opening ceremony will be attended by a notable group of Arab and Egyptian filmmakers.

Festival president Director Mohammed Mahmoud announced that producer Mohamed el-Adl is the honorary president of the festival in its fifth edition; further thanking the efforts exerted by Khalid Abdul Jalil in overcoming numerous obstacles faced by the festival’s management.

Mahmoud pointed out that the festival’s management decided to open the festival’s door for all the residents of Alexandria free of charge, including all the presentations, seminars, discussions, opening and closing ceremony.

“The opening and closing ceremony will be held at Feryal Cinema after its renovation. Feryal cinema will reopen officially on the festival’s opening ceremony as it was closed for some time ,the credit goes to Khaled Abdul Jalil’s efforts.” commented Mahmoud.

“It has been completely refurbished with new chairs, display screens, projector and a completely new sound system, becoming fully operational. The hall will accommodate 1100 chairs.We are happy to re-open it through Alexandria Short Film Festival, guests are set to be transferred to the location using a cabriolet to celebrate and welcome them.” continued Mahmoud.

The festival’s president further clarified that the festival’s 5th edition includes a jury of critics for the first time; and is scheduled to honor prominent actor Ahmed Kamal in the closing ceremony in recognition of his enriching cinematic contributions.

For his part, Director Muni Mahmoud, the technical director of the festival stated that he happily receive more than 500 films over the past months; selecting the best films through the viewing committee.

The festival’s management will include more than 30 films in its program; competing in various competitions and is set to be screened for the first time exclusively in Egypt; as well as a great number of International, Arab and African premieres.

The festival's viewing committees included critics Mahmoud Mahdi, Andrew Mohsen, Daniel Tanilian, Israa Imam, Mohamed Casper, Mohamed Ahmed and Nadine Yousef.

The festival consist of three arbitration committees, the first of which are the official jury of feature and documentary films, consist of Egyptian director Hala Galal, Lebanese actor Nicola Maawad, Egyptian critic Mohamed Atef, Tunisian director Amna el-Naggar, Egyptian producer Safi el-Din Mahmoud.

The jury of the Students' Film Competition consists of director Nevine Shalaby, actor Hosni Sheta and critic Mohamed Awad.

The festival will present for the first time Samir Farid Award, which will be awarded by a jury made of the Egyptian Film Critics Association’s member, who are Rasha Hosny, Nader Rifai and Ahmed Zakaria.

Mahmoud explained that the festival's film categories include fiction,documentary, short films and films made by students, and including 16 novels and 10 documentaries.

Moreover, the festival’s president further clarified that Arab cinema competes strongly for the festival awards. In the first competition, Egypt competes with two films; “Khatwa Bkhatwa” (Step by Step) directed by Adham Baroud, and “Ertebak” (Confusion) directed by Mohammed Hussein.

The Alexandria Short Film Festival is an annual event held each year in April; founded and organized by the Art Association.

The festival aims to show different short film genres and exchanging Arab cultures. The festival presents and organizes free workshops and artistic seminars throughout the year.