Many activities at the festiva will be shedding light on the late critic's work. He will posthumously remain the festival’s Artistic Director, a position he held since the 2000 edition, after joining the festival in 1987.
Cairo International Film Festival’s (CIFF) 41st edition will be dedicated to late Egyptian film critic and historian Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, who passed away on July 12, 2019.
Rizkallah who served the festival since 1987 and became the festival’s Artistic Director since 2000, will be honoured through many activities at the festival that will be held between November 20 until November 29.
Commenting on the announcement, Mohamed Hefzy, Festival President said: “Rizkallah’s decades of work in popularizing and spreading knowledge about a variety of segments of the seventh art has left an important mark in the hearts and souls of cinema followers.”
“We have learned love for cinema from Rizkallah; we hope to continue learning the sincerity towards this field, alongside many values that we often miss from those days,” he added.
The late critic’s son, writer Ahmed Rizkallah, added: “Honouring him this year and with such depth demonstrates the festival President’s and the whole team’s understanding of the important role that my father played in supporting the festival throughout the years and spreading the cinema culture in Egypt”.
Rizkallah is a well-known film critic. His Hollywood movie reviews became popular in the Middle East through presenting and producing a number of important TV shows since the 60s, including Oscar and Tele-Cinema.
The journalist authored several movie reviews for Egyptian and Arab newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV shows. He also participated in many film festivals around the world.
