Returning after last year’s dramatic cancellation, the 45th edition of the long-running Cairo festival had a rich international program but a special focus on strong films from Africa, the Middle East, Palestine and Egypt itself.
Director Milad Tshangir’s impressive debut feature ‘Anywhere Anytime’ puts a contemporary illegal-immigrant spin on Vittorio De Sica’s beloved Italian neorealist classic ‘Bicycle Thieves’.
The Cairo jury gave their main prize to Romanian director Bogdan Muresanu’s tragicomic Cold War period piece ‘The New Year That Never Came’, but local writer-director Noha Adel earned the most awards and warmest reviews with her bittersweet female-driven ensemble drama ‘Spring Came Laughing’.
The topic is marriage and the four compulsively watchable stories that make up Noha Adel’s ‘Spring Came Laughing’ nail the shallowness, hypocrisy and suffering of Egyptian middle-class women, caught in a web outdated traditions.
The new Omar Sharif Award recognizes the growth of the Middle East as a premier filmmaking region.
The Cairo Industry Days’ dynamic panel about African cinema underlined how filmmakers must challenge the systems that restrict them.
A mother and her young son’s relationship is pushed to the limit in Teta, an unnerving psychological horror with disquieting, supernatural overtones.
The Film Verdict chief critic and editor Deborah Young addressed the importance of the awards in celebrating exceptional MENA film talent.
Rakeen Saad of Jordan began acting at ten and has steadily grown in her chosen career.
Screenwriter and director Noha Adel represents Egypt in Cairo Film Festival competition with her first feature, ‘Spring Came Laughing’.
For his extensive experience covering Saudi cinema and the regional film industry, Al-Ayyad has been awarded the Next Generation Award.
Hani Khalifa’s latest film ‘Flight 404’ is Egypt’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.
Made in collaboration with feted dissident director Jafar Panahi, Nader Saeivar’s ‘The Witness’ is a muted but quietly furious protest drama about murder and misogyny in contemporary Iran,
A captivating story, at once simple and profound, describes the relationship between a blind boy and his loving grandfather as they travel through the desert in Daoud Aoulad-Syad’s layered road movie, ‘The Blue Lake’.
Bassam Mortada’s ‘Abo Zaabal 89’ is a personal odyssey about the scars of political activism in contemporary Egypt, and a big win for Arab documentary filmmaking.
Peter Ghesquiere channels Wes Anderson in Manual for a Divorce, a mannered short comedy about a couple who are separated when their children get a divorce.
The affable president of the Cairo Film Festival is a clear-sighted leader whose other job is being one of Egypt’s biggest stars.
Shot over a year ago by students in a filmmaking workshop in Gaza, ‘Gazan Tales’ is a disarming snapshot of four men’s everyday lives, as they pass their days unaware of the disaster about to befall them
Yousry Nasrallah’s willingness to address social taboos, his commitment to depicting female protagonists, and his insight into the political and cultural struggles of Egyptian society have earned him popularity and the respect of Arab filmmakers and audiences.
Under the curation of Palestinian producer-director Rashid Masharawi, ‘From Ground Zero’ is an anthology of 22 short films offering a rawly immediate and deeply human response to devastation in the Gaza Strip.
In his well-executed documentary ‘Holidays In Palestine’, Maxime Lindon dissects what it means to be a Palestinian with a European passport.
Rashid Masharawi discusses his work and his enduring commitment to bringing Palestinian stories to the global stage.
Julie Delpy’s dark refugee comedy ‘Meet the Barbarians’ is a stark reminder of the absurd cruelty of ranking human suffering, and the resilience required to rebuild a life amid indifference and prejudice.
A stubborn boy searches all over Palestine for a lost pigeon in ‘Passing Dreams’, Rashid Masharawi’s unexpectedly gentle, non-confrontational allegory about the state of the country.
The new man behind the 45th festival wants films to be seen beyond central Cairo.
The head of Cairo Industry Days hopes the market-based event will promote inclusivity among all players of Egyptian filmmaking, not just festival and arthouse circles.
The Cairo International Film Festival has put in a big effort to diversify its lineup and make bold choices, like 10 juries judging a historically large selection of films.