Nadine Mustafa A short while ago, the opening ceremony of the 43rd session of the Cairo International Film Festival, which is scheduled to run until December 5, ended.
The ceremony, which was held at the Egyptian Opera House, witnessed a large presence of art stars and filmmakers from Egypt, Arab countries, and the world, as well as a large number of journalists, media professionals, and prominent personalities.
The ceremony began with the appearance of the artist Khaled El-Sawy, who presented a comedy segment with the participation of the artist Ali Rabie, about the role of cinema in supporting the culture of difference, then the media, Mona Abdel-Wahab, appeared to present the rest of the concert.
This was followed by a speech by producer and scriptwriter Mohamed Hefzy, president of the festival, in which he confirmed that the support and encouragement he received over the years of his presidency of the festival was a great motivator for him to develop cycle after session, and added that art festivals, art stars, and writers are Egypt’s soft forces before the show was presented. A video clip in which the photos of the most prominent stars who left our world during the last period were reviewed, including Suhair Al-Babli, Ezzat Al-Alayli, Youssef Shaaban, Samir Ghanem, Dalal Abdel Aziz, and others.
Hefzy then invited the Minister of Culture, Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, to open the 43rd session, and the minister emphasized in her speech the state’s permanent support for culture and the arts, and its pride in the position the Cairo Festival had reached as the only Arab festival classified within the first category festivals of the International Federation of Producers in Paris
On the other hand, the brochures of the films participating in the international competition were reviewed, and the names of the jury of the same competition were announced, and the name of the head of the committee, the Serbian director Emir Kosortica, who went on stage with a musical group, before giving a speech on this occasion.
This was followed by the great musician Hani Shenouda playing the song “Cinema Al-Hayat”, sung by the artist Hind Abdel Halim.
Then the artist Mona Zaki appeared, to present the artist Karim Abdel Aziz, who received the Faten Hamama Award for Excellence, which the artist Karim Abdel Aziz received, in appreciation of his career, and Karim thanked his father, the great director Mohamed Abdel Aziz, and his mother and wife, and expressed his happiness with the award that carries The name of the Cairo Festival and Faten Hamama, and that the one who handed him the award is his companion Mona Zaki.
As for the Golden Pyramid Award for Lifetime Achievement, which was won by the great artist Nelly, it was presented by the great artist Samir Sabry, who brought back many memories that Nelly had collected over the course of their career.
The ceremony concluded with a song presented by Etisalat, which was sung by Hamid Al Shaeri.
It is noteworthy that the activities of the 43rd session of the Cairo International Film Festival, which started today, are scheduled to continue until December 5, with all precautionary measures taken in accordance with the instructions of the Egyptian government and the World Health Organization, in order to ensure the safety of the participating filmmakers, the public and the festival team.
The Cairo International Film Festival, one of the oldest and most regular festivals in the Arab world and Africa, is unique in being the only festival in the Arab and African region registered in Category A in the International Federation of Producers in Paris (FIAPF).
