The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF, November 13-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 44th edition.
Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans will open the festival following its world premiere at Toronto where it picked up the people’s choice award.
Scroll down for full line-up
CIFF’s international competition section contains 14 titles, including five world premieres.
Egyptian director Ahmad Abdalla’s 19B is one of the world premieres competing for the Golden Pyramid for best film. It follows an old guard whose peaceful job of watching over an abandoned villa is threatened when a young park attendant turns up.
Other titles include The Astronaut, the second feature from French actor-filmmaker Nicolas Giraud, and Pierre Foldes’ animation Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.
Titles with previous festival history include Maksym Nakonechnyi’s Butterfly Vision. The Ukrainian filmmaker’s feature debut had its world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and follows a soldier returning from the frontline to discover she is pregnant after being raped by the warden who held her captive.
Among the titles screening out of competition are Berlin Golden Bear winner Alcarras, Lukas Dhont’s Close, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Florian Zeller’s The Son.
Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase will preside over the international jury which comprises Egyptian cinematographer Nancy Abdelfattah; Indian actor Swara Bhasker; Egyptian composer Rageh Daoud; Italian actor Stefania Casini; Mexican filmmaker Joaquin Del Paso; and Moroccan actor Samir Guesmi.
On the Horizon
Seven films will compete in the Horizons of Arab Cinema competition which showcases feature films from the Middle East and Africa.
This line-up features six world premieres and will open with Sherief Elkatsha’s Far From The Nile. The documentary is an Egypt-US co-production and follows 12 musicians from the 11 countries which border the Nile on a tour of the US.
Other titles include Bassem Breche’s Riverbed, about a mother dealing with the return of her pregnant daughter; Merzak Allouache’s The Family, following a corrupt politician trying to flee Algeria; and Carlos Chahine’s Mother Valley, about a young Lebanese woman who has a life-changing meeting with a French man.
The jury for the Horizons of Arab Cinema will be presided over by Lebanese actor-filmmaker Michel Kammoun with Tunisian producer Moufida Fedhila and Egyptian costume designer Reem El Adl.
CIFF will also be presenting Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr and Egyptian actor Lebleba with lifetime achievement awards, while Egyptian director Kamla Abu Zekry will receive the Faten Hamama excellence award.
International competition
(* denotes world premieres)
19B* (Egypt)
Dir. Ahmad Abdalla
Alam (Fr-Tun-Pal-Saudi-Qat)
Dir. Firas Khoury
The Astronaut* (France)
Dir. Nicolas Giraud
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Fr-Can-Neth-Lux)
Dir. Pierre Foldes
Bread And Salt (Poland)
Dir. Damian Kocur
Butterfly Vision (Ukr-Cze-Cro-Swe)
Dir. Maksym Nakonechnyi
The Dam (Fr-Leb-Sudan-Qat-Ger-Ser)
Dir. Ali Cherri
I Don’t Want To Be Dust* (Mex-Arg)
Dir. Ivan Löwenberg
The Island Of Forgiveness* (Tun-Leb-US)
Dir. Ridha Behi
Love According To Dalva (Belg-Fr)
Dir. Emmanuelle Nicot
A Man (Japan)
Dir. Kei Ishikawa
Something You Said Last Night (Can-Switz)
Dir. Luis De Filippis
Things Unsaid* (Macedonia-Ser)
Dir. Eleonora Veninova
Tinnitus (Brazil)
Dir. Gregorio Graziosi
Horizons of Arab Cinema competition
The Family* (Algeria)
Dir. Merzak Allouache
Far From The Nile* (Egy-US) opening film
Dir. Sherief Elkatsha
Houria (Fr-Belg)
Dir. Mounia Meddour
Jalaldine* (Morocco)
Dir. Hassan Benjelloun
Joseph’s Journey* (Syria)
Dir. Joud Said
Mother Valley* (Fr-Leb)
Dir. Carlos Chahine
Riverbed* (Leb-Qat)
Dir. Bassem Breche
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