| Cairo International Film Festival مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي | |
| Number: | 97 in 2022 |
| Location: | Cairo, Egypt |
| Founded: | 16 August 1976 |
| Awards: | Golden Pyramid Award, Silver Pyramid, Bronze Pyramid, Naguib Mahfouz Award, Henry Barakat Award, Faten Hamama Award |
| Language: | International |
| Artistic Director: | Amir Ramses |
| Date: | 13-22 November |
The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House.[1] It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year since its inception, except for 2011 and 2013, when it was cancelled due to budget limitations and political instability.[2] [3] It is the only international competitive feature film festival recognized by the FIAPF in the Arab world and Africa, as well as the oldest in this category.[4] [5]
The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) is one of only 15 Festivals accorded as a category "A" status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations FIAPF. It is the oldest internationally accredited cultural feature film festival in the Arab World, Africa and the Middle East.[6]
The history of CIFF goes back to 1975, after a visit to the Berlin Film Festival the late writer-critic Kamal El Mallakh and a group of like-minded cinema critics wondered why such a world-class festival could not take place in Egypt. The country was still in Egyptian cinema's "Golden Age" and contained a formidable film industry, still the biggest in the Arab world. The Cairo International Film Festival was launched in 1976.[7] [8] The 1976 festival featured around 100 films from 33 countries, with 14 films from 14 different countries in competition.
The Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics headed the festival for the first seven years until 1983. In the following year, the Union of Artist's Syndicates supervised the festival, and after that point, several associations mustered their resources to run the festival. The Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics joined with the Ministry of Culture and the Union of Artist's Syndicates to form a joint committee in 1985 to improve the quality and financial state of the festival.[9]
In 2023, The Cairo International Film Festival’s 45th edition was canceled due to the Israel–Hamas war.[10] [11]
The festival offers awards in specialized categories as well:
The Cairo Film Connection is the latest co-production platform aiming at maximizing networking to induce coproductions for films originating from the Arab world. The first year, around 10 projects will be selected by a team of experts. Directors and producers will be invited to the Cairo Film Connection to pitch their projects over a period of 3 days to key industry professionals whether international or from the region. Circulation of the selected project in Arabic and English as well as, individualized meetings scheduled in advance should maximize exposure of the projects and optimize all the participants' experiences. Guests will be carefully selected to cover all stages of development of film production, funding, distribution, marketing, broadcasting, sales, festivals. In addition to the exposure offered to filmmakers during the Cairo Film Connection, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture is offering a special award amounting to $10,000.[13]
| Year | Best Film (Golden Pyramid) | Best Director | Best Actor | Best Actress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 15th | The Object of Beauty | Michael Lindsay-Hogg for The Object of Beauty | Joaquim de Almeida for Family Portrait | Christiane Heinrich for Suspicion |
| 1992 16th | Those Left Behind | Michael Apted for Thunderheart | Ole Lemmeke for The Naked Trees | Xiu Jingshuang for Those Left Behind |
| 1993 17th | Curfew | Nabil Maleh for The Extras | Andrzej Seweryn for Amok | Marina Neyolova for You Are My Only One |
| 1994 18th | Colonel Chabert | Yves Angelo for Colonel Chabert | Nour El-Sherif for A Hot Night | Laila Elwi for More Love, Less Violence |
| 1995 19th | The Flor Contemplacion Story | Sergei Masloboischikov for Josephine, the Singer and the Mice People | Stephen Rea for Citizen X | Nora Aunor for The Flor Contemplacion Story |
| 1996 20th | A Girl Called Apple | Pantelis Voulgaris for Akropol | Abu Bakr Ezzat for The Woman and the Hatchet | Julia Jäger for Outside Time |
| 1997 21st | The Chambermaid on the Titanic | Bigas Luna for The Chambermaid on the Titanic | Davor Janjić for Outsider | Reem Al-Turki for Ceremonial Wedding Dress |
| 1998 22nd | Malli | Santosh Sivan for Malli | Paschalis Tsarouhas for Vasiliki | Mei Ting for A Time to Remember |
| 1999 23rd |
Internationally renowned directors awarded include Robert Wise, Elia Kazan, Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Stone, Roland Joffe, Carlos Saura, Ismail Merchant, Moustapha Akkad, Gadalla Gubara and Michelangelo Antonioni. The CIFF 2004 Best Arab Film Award was given to an Egyptian film, Inas El-Degheidy's Searching for Freedom. In 2005 the CIFF honored its two star guests, American actor Morgan Freeman and French actress Leslie Caron. There was a screening of American actor and director Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby starring Freeman, Eastwood and Hilary Swank; and American director Vincent Minnelli's classic musical An American in Paris (1951), starring Caron and Gene Kelly. CIFF's other 2005 honorees included Mohamed Mounir and Hanan Turk for their roles in Lebanese director Jocelyne Saab's Dunia (2005 film), a controversial film focusing on censorship and the oppression of women in Egypt. The Syrian-American producer and director Moustapha Akkad, who died in a 2005 terrorist attack in Amman, Jordan, was also honored that year. He is best remembered for Mohammad, Messenger of God (1976) (U.S. The Message) about the early days of Islam, and for the spine-chilling Halloween movie series. External links |