Ramses will take up the role immediately to manage the 44th edition, which is expected to take place in the second half of November 2022.
President of Cairo International Film Festival Hussein Fahmy has announced the appointment of Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses as Director of the 44th edition.
Following Mohamed Hefzy’s departure as president last week, the event restructured its team.
Ramses was previously artistic director of the El Gouna Film Festival from 2017 to 2021.
He is an Egyptian director, who graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in 2000. Ramses initially worked as an assistant director in several films with international Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. His films toured many acclaimed film festivals, earning him several Arab awards. His documentary, Jews of Egypt, participated in Palm Springs Film Festivals, Montreal International Film Festival, Hamburg Film Festival, among others. His feature film Cairo Time was the opening film for the Arabian Nights Programme and participated in the 2014 Dubai International Film Festival.
Ramses recently wrapped up shooting his series Colors of the Sea starring Khaled El Nabawi and Aisha Ben Ahmed, which is scheduled to air soon.
Speaking about the appointment, Hussein Fahmy said: “I am very happy that my friend Amir Ramses accepts the management of the Cairo International Film Festival, and I wish him success.”
Ramses added: “It is a great honour to be commissioned to take on this great responsibility, to work under the leadership of one of the icons of the Egyptian cinema, and in the oldest leading film festival in the Arab region. I aspire to follow the footsteps of the previous team which had a great role in developing the festival in the past year.”
CIFF is one of the oldest festivals n the Arab world and Africa and is the only festival in the region registered in category A at the International Federation of Producers in Paris (FIAPF).