The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has unveiled the line-up for its comeback 45th edition, taking place from November 13-22.
The world premiere of Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi’s Passing Dreams will open the festival, as part of a focus on Palestinian cinema.
Passing Dreams is a drama about a 12-year-old boy who embarks on a journey across Palestine, while chasing a carrier pigeon, convinced it has returned to its original owner.
The line-up includes three Palestinian feature documentaries competing for the best Arab film awards in the Horizons of Arab Cinema programme, and the best Palestinian film award.
Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi’s A State Of Passion: Ghassan Abu Sittah, highlights the story of British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon, Ghassan Abu Sittah, becoming a face of Palestinian resistance, after working round the clock for 43 horrific days, under constant bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza’s Al Shifa and Al Ahli hospitals.
Mahmoud Nabil Ahmed’s Gazan Tales, follows the daily lives of four men in the heart of the Gaza Strip, while Maxime Lindon’s Holidays In Palestine is about Shadi, a 30-year-old activist, who returns to his native village in Palestine after moving to France.
From Ground Zero is also part of the festival’s special programme, an anthology collection of 22 short films made by Gazan filmmakers and initiated by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi.
This year’s line-up consists of 194 films from 72 countries, 37 world premieres, and 119 MENA premieres. Seventeen films will screen in the main international feature competition, 14 films will compete for the Horizons of Arab Cinema awards, 11 films in the official selection, out of competition, seven in the Critics’ Week competition, 11 in the International Panorama and 12 in the Special Screenings.
The main international competition line-up includes Adam Elliot’s Memoir Of A Snail, the winner of the best film award at the BFI London Film Festival and Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and French actress and director Julie Delpy’s comedy Meet The Barbarians, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Delpy stars with Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte and Ziad Bakri.
The line-up further includes US filmmaker Constance Tsang’s comedy-drama Blue Sun Palace, which premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, winning the French Touch Prize, and Romanian filmmaker Bogdan Mureșanu’s drama The New Year That Never Came, winner of the best film and Fipresci awards in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Another Venice tile in competition is Victory, Vittoria by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman, winner of the Arca CinemaGiovani Award for best Italian film in Venice.
Mati Diop’s Golden Bear-winning documentary Dahomey, Raoul Peck’s documentary Ernest Cole: Lost And Found, winner of Cannes’ Golden Eye award, Walter Salles’ Venice best screenplay winner I Am Still Here, are all screening out of competition.
CIFF’s special programmes include Cairo Classics, Made in Egypt, for films shot recently in Egypt, spotlight on Palestinian Cinema, and China’s Cinematic Frontiers: Sci-Fi, Drama, and Beyond, in collaboration with Beijing International Film Festival.
The Made in Egypt Selection features Neil Burger’s spy thriller Inheritance, starring Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans.
Cairo International Competition 2024:
4 O’Clock Flowers (Tunisia)
Dir: Khedija Lemkecher
Ayse (Turkey)
Dir: Necmi Sancak
Dear Maloti, Priyo Maloti (Bangladesh)
Dir: Shankha Das Gupta
January 2 (Hungary)
Dir: Zsófia Szilágyi
Maldoror (Belgium-France)
Dir: Fabrice du Welz
Malu (Brazil)
Dir: Pedro Freire
Meet The Barbarians (France)
Dir: Julie Delpy
Memoir Of A Snail (Australia)
Dir: Adam Elliot
Moondove (Lebanon)
Dir: Karim Kassem
Passing Dreams (Palestine- Sweden-France)
Dir: Rashid Masharawi
Postmarks (Russia)
Dir: Natalia Nazarova
SnowDrop (Japan)
Dir: Yoshida Kota
Spring Come Laughing (Egypt)
Dir: Noha Adel
The New Year That Never Came (Romania)
Dir: Bogdan Mureșanu
Victory, Vittoria (Italy)
Dirs Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman
When The Phone Rang (Serbia-US)
Dir: Iva Radivojević
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