Palestinian cinema and culture are the dominant themes of CIFF's 45th edition, with numerous events dedicated to narratives highlighting Palestinian resilience.
The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), opened yesterday in a glittering ceremony that underscored its support for Palestinian cinema and culture. Palestinian cinema and culture are the dominant themes of CIFF’s 45th edition, with numerous events dedicated to Palestinian cinematic works and narratives highlighting Palestinian resilience.
The festival began with the premiere of Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi’s Passing Dreams. Another festival highlight is the screening of the anthology ‘From Zero Distance’. Led by Masharawi , the project brings together 22 directors from Gaza, each providing a cinematic perspective on the daily realities, hopes, and struggles of the Palestinian people. The featured films include Out of Frame by Nada Abu Hasna, Heaven’s Hell by Kareem Satoum, Magic by Bashar Albalbisi, and Everything is Fine by Nidal Damu, among others. Cairo-based Misr International Films will present three $1,000 awards to the best shorts selected from this anthology. The CIFF has also announced a prize of more than $5,000 for the best film addressing the Palestinian cause, sponsored by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Radio and Television Union.
Other Palestinian films showing at the festival include, Age of the Gazelle by Saif Hamash, Born a Star by Louay Awad, and Dreams of a Square Kilometer by Kassam Subeih. Two special awards will be presented for Palestinian films and works from Gaza, with judging panels including notable figures such as producer Gaby Khoury, actress Kinda Alloush, and critic Ahmed Shawky. A separate panel for the “Palestinian Film” award will feature Dr. Amr El-Leithy, Palestinian producer Layaly Badr, and actor Mostafa Shaaban.
CIFF 2024 runs until November 22. It will showcase nearly 194 films and 10 competition strands. The main international competition line-up includes Adam Elliot’s Memoir Of A Snail, French director Julie Delpy’s comedy Meet The Barbarians, US filmmaker Constance Tsang’s comedy-drama Blue Sun Palace, and Romanian filmmaker Bogdan Mureșanu’s drama The New Year That Never Came.
This year, significant changes have been introduced in the Horizons of New Arab Cinema Competition Awards. For the first time, all Arab films participating across various sections of the festival will be eligible to compete for five cash awards, totalling $25,000, for best Arab film, best director, best screenplay, best actor and best actress.
The CIFF Classics segment has been expanded and will feature 25 films including the world premieres of 10 Egyptian films from the 1960s and ’70s, which have been recently restored by the country’s Cinematic Restoration Center.
