The Egyptian film 19b Director Ahmad Abdalla was selected to be screened, as a world premiere, as part of the international competition for the next edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) which will take place from November 13 to 22, 2022.
19b is written and directed by Ahmad Abdalla, with in the main roles SYED RAGAB, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, Nahed El Sebai and Fadwa Abed. In addition, the film is produced by film Clinic and will therefore see the return of Mohamed Hefzy At the Cairo Festival, but as a producer, after being the president for 4 consecutive years.
In this film full of suspense, the events follow the guardian of a property which leads a recluse life in the abandoned villa which he keeps, and whose confrontation with a person who lives in the street in front will force him to completely change his lifestyle.
B19 is 6th Ahmad Abdalla fiction feature film, which since his first film Heliopolis (2009) innovates and surprises each time by different films. Son 2th feature film Microphone (2010) marked a turning point in the history of independent Egyptian cinema, some even saying that it is actually the first film truly independent of Egyptian cinema, and that it had also announced the Egyptian revolution. Microphone had also won the Tanit d’Or at the 2010 JCC.
Decor (2014), Son 3th fictional feature film, had also been selected for the official competition of the 2014 JCC. A film shot in black and white, both homage to the golden age of Egyptian cinema, and a reflection on the crisis of his quarantine and the choices of life to make.
EXTERIOR/Night (2018), his penultimate film, which had been presented worldwide at the CIFF and won the prize for best male interpretation for Sherif El Desouky, was then selected in several other film festivals and collected some awards.
The 19B film poster, directed by Ahmad Abdalla.
Commenting on this selection, Hussein Fahmy, president of the Cairo Film International Film Festivalsaid: ” The film was loved by the festival programmers, which made us want to include it in the list of films in international competition. We are impatiently awaiting the screening of the film because we are convinced that he will be welcomed by the public and cinema critics ».
Amir Ramses, director of the Cairo International Film Festivalcommented: “ The director of the film, Ahmad Abdalla, is best known for his titles which have always achieved unprecedented success at international and regional festivals, each time winning international awards ».
He also noticed that Ahmad Abdalla’s films have almost always been part of the CIFF cinematographic program: ” Microphone, Heliopolis and Decor have already been screened at the Cairo International Film Festival. His last victory was marked by Exterior/Night which received the Best actor Prize during the festival edition in 2018».
The Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest film festivals in the Arab world and Africa and the only festival in the region to be accredited as a festival (A) by (FIAPF) – The International Federation of Film producers.
Neïla Driss
