Egypt’s Hefzy announces CIFF outstanding program that houses 84 films of most important productions of 2020

BY

Angy Essam

-

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 - 10:49 GMT

BY

Angy Essam

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 - 10:49 GMT

File: Mohamed Hefzy.

File: Mohamed Hefzy.

CAIRO - 3 December 2020: The 42nd edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) opened amid strict precautionary measures, and in accordance to the requirements presented by the Egyptian ministry of health and the World Health Organization. Presided over by the renowned Egyptian producer and screenwriter, Mohamed Hefzy.

 

Hefzy started his speech by welcoming all the attendees, artists and ministers.






“I would like to thank the Egyptian government, minister of culture Inas Abdel Dayem” Hefzy said.

Hefzy thanked Egypt’s Minister of Health Hala Zayed for the ministry support to the festival.

CIFF head said that this year the festival management faced a difficulty in organizing the festival because of COVID-19.

“Cairo Industry Days provides huge support for independent filmmakers” Hefzy added.

Mohamed Hefzy surprised the attendees by presenting a video messages to CIFF from the heads of the biggest three festivals which are  Cannes Film Festival,Berlin Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.

Hefzy added that Egyptian government supported the festival and  insisted on the continuation of the festival.

 

Hefzy promised CIFF audience with outstanding program, indicating that this year the programming team managed to include 84 films of the latest and most important productions of year 2020.

 

He also praised the Cairo Forum Cinema, which this year exceeds USD 250 thousand to fund future cinema projects. Hefzy said that the team prides itself for hosting 200 international guests despite the travel restrictions worldwide. He also honoured an Egyptian director Sameh Alaa who scooped the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The filmmaker’s latest work titled I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face won the Best Short Film Palme D’Or Award.

 

 
 

 

The festival features 84 films including 16 titles that will mark their world and international premieres in Cairo.

 
The festival’s International Competition encompasses three titles marking their world premiere, including, Mo Er Dao Ga (China) by director Jinling Cao, German Lessons (Bulgaria) by Pavel G. Vesnakov and Curfew (Egypt) by Amir Ramses.
 
Horizons of Arab Cinema section features two world premieres; the documentary On the Fence (Egypt) by Nesrine El Zayat, and Had El Tar (KSA) by Abdelaziz Al Shlahei. Another international premiere is Autumn of the Apples (Morocco) by director Mohamed Mouftaker.
 
 
 
The Special Screenings section features the world premiere of TV Society (Lebanon) by Robert Cremona and the international premiere of A Siege Diary (Russia) by Andrei Zeitsev.
 
In the Midnight Screenings, the world premiering film is Sideshow (UK) by Adam Oldroyd while in Panorama Special, Back to Wharf (China) by Li Xiaofeng.
 
In Cinema of Tomorrow, three short films have their world premieres: The Man Who Swallowed the Radio (Egypt) by director Yasser Shafaei; I Bit My Tongue (Tunisia, France) by Nina Khada; and Sara Mesfer’s The Girls Who Burned the Night (KSA). This section also showcase three international premieres, namely: Isabel (Cuba) by Egyptian director Sara Shazly; The Red Spiral (Venezuela) Lorena Colmenares; and Kurchatov (Russia) by Alexander Korolev.
 
 
In cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute, the festival holds a special program ‘Hundred Years of Fellini’. Celebrating the maestro of Italian cinema, director Federico Fellini, the CIFF screens a number of his masterworks: Juliet of the Spirits, La Dolce Vita, 81⁄2, and Nights of Cabiria. Also the festival presents the MENA premiere of Fellini Of The Spirits by Anselma Dell’Olio.
 
 
 

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