Among the 15 projects are Tamer Ashry's 'Inshallah A Boy', which won the Final Cut award in Venice, and Suzannah Mirghani's 'Cotton Queen'.
The Cairo Film Connection (CFC), which takes part within the framework of Cairo Industry Days (CID), has selected 15 feature and documentary projects in the development and post-production phases.
The project incubator will take place at the 44th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which runs from November 13 to 22, 2022.
The shortlisted film projects include 15 documentary and feature narrative projects in development and post-production phases from across the Arab world including Egypt (five film projects), Tunisia (two film projects), Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Palestine, and KSA.
Eight film projects are competing in the feature narrative section, including two projects in post-production; Inshallah A Boy (Jordan) by director Amjad Al Rasheed and Red Path (Tunisia) by director Lotfi Achour. The film projects also include six feature narratives in development; Bad Friend (Egypt) by director Ahmed El Ghoneimy; Over Three Days by director Tamer Ashry; Cotton Queen (Sudan) by director Suzannah Mirghani; The Seasons of Jannet (Tunisia) by director Mehdi Hmili; Aziz Hala (KSA) by director Jawaher Alamri; and Bella (Morocco) by director Mohcine Besri.
Furthermore, there are seven film projects in the documentaries section of Cairo Film Connection including three projects in post-production: Let’s Play Soldiers (Yemen), by directors Mariam Al-Dhubani and Mohammed Al-Jaberi; The Last Man (Egypt) by director Muhammad Salah; Suspended (Lebanon) by director Myriam El Hajj. On the other hand, the list revealed four film projects in development; A Butterfly Hug (Egypt) by director Sally Abo Basha; My Dad’s a Farmer by director El Kheyer Zidani; Searching for Woody (Egypt) by director Sara Shazli; and Theft of Fire (Palestine) by director Amr Shomali.
Amir Ramses, Festival Director of Cairo International Film Festival, commented on this highlighting the role played by Cairo Film Connection in further supporting Arab cinema. He also expressed his delight for the continuous support received by Cairo Film Connection’s partners and sponsors. He further added that the joining of new partners to Cairo Film Connection reflects their trust in the film project selection of the most notable projects across the Arab world.
Lynda Belkhria, Manager of Cairo Film Connection, stated: “Through Cairo Film Connection, we want to consolidate the relationship between Arab industry and the international cinema by offering a selection of promising projects from ten countries of the Arab world that highlight different stories that reflect the reality of the situation faced in these countries.
“A balanced selection between documentary and feature narrative, reflects the desire and the urgency of a diversified approach to storytelling, from the realistic to the pure fiction. We tried to create an organic selection in which every film is represented through its unique voice. Projects that reflect both the innovative strengths of the voice of the new generations of filmmakers, in a specific where the industry is facing harsh difficulties while the desire for original stories and creative filmmaking is ever growing.”
Held as part of Cairo Industry Days, Cairo Film Connection provides an important space for discussions, networking, meetings, workshops, master classes and partnership and co-production opportunities. It aims to establish connections between Arab talent, and regional and international key industry professionals, to further support Arab Cinema.
