The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced a news that already places its 46ᵉ edition, planned from November 12 to 21, 2025, At the heart of global cinematographic news. The Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, one of the greatest authors of contemporary cinema, was chosen to chair the jury for international competition.
Considered a master of author’s cinema, Nori Bilge Ceylan has built a work of rare aesthetic and philosophical coherence. Born in 1959 in Istanbul, he first studied electrical engineering before turning to photography, a discipline that will remain at the heart of his visual approach. This double training partly explains the singularity of his style: a technical rigor inherited from her scientific journey, combined with a keen sense of pictorial composition, nourished by photography and by a deep artistic culture.
From his first short films, Nori Bilge Ceylan affirms a personal universe, marked by a contemplative atmosphere and a staging of loneliness and incommunicability. Kasaba (1997), his first feature film, already reveals this attention to detail, this close relationship to the landscape and the family memory. With May clouds (1999) and especially Uzak (2002), he established himself as an essential voice in world cinema.
His work tirelessly explores universal themes: the loneliness of beings in front of time, the complexity of family relationships, the confrontation between the city and the countryside, but also the place of the intellectual in a changing society. His characters, often in search of meaning or redemption, evolve in spaces marked by melancholy beauty, between the harshness of the Anatolian landscapes and the intimacy of the interiors.
The course of Nuri Bilge Ceylan is intimately linked to the Cannes Film Festival, where it was regularly crowned. In 2003, his film Uzak (Distant) receives both the Grand Prix and the male interpretation price. In 2008, The three monkeys earned him the price of staging. Three years later, Once upon a time in Anatolia In turn won the Grand Prix, confirming the power of his cinematographic gaze. The summit arrives in 2014, when Winter Sleep (Winter sleep) War the Palme d’Or, devoting Ceylon among the essential figures of world cinema. More recently, In 2023, Dry herbs offered the female interpretation prize in wondersproof of the vitality and the news of his work.
Beyond its distinctions, what characterizes Nuri Bilge Ceylan is its ability to mix a deeply philosophical introspection with an aesthetic dimension close to painting. His wide plans, where nature becomes a full -fledged character, dialogue with the silences and looks of his protagonists. Each film is an immersive experience, which invites to meditate and analyze human contradictions.
It was this international stature that convinced the organizers of the Cairo Festival. Hussein Fahmy, president of CIFF, praised this choice by declaring: ” The cinema of Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a stallion of artistic excellence. His selection as president of the jury reflects CIFF’s commitment to promote a daring and visionary cinema, and to position Cairo as a privileged meeting place for the most exciting cinematographic voices in the world. »»
In the same spirit, Mohamed Tarek, artistic director of the festival, insisted on the coherence between the vision of Nuri Bilge Ceylan and the artistic line of this edition: “ The films of Ceylon explore the character, place and time – values at the heart of our program this year. It is a filmmaker that we had been waiting for a long time in Cairo, and it is an honor to welcome him at the head of our international jury. His presence will feed a powerful dialogue on the possibilities of cinema. »»
As president of the jury, Ceylan will have the task of directing a panel of filmmakers, artists and professionals from around the world, responsible for awarding the golden pyramid and the main distinctions of international competition. The complete composition of the jury, as well as the official selection of films, will be announced in the coming weeks.
The announcement of this presidency is accompanied by an unprecedented partnership between the Cairo Festival, Tesi̇yap – the professional association of television and cinema producers, which represents the main Turkish producers and supports the growth of the audiovisual industry by promoting co -productions and international dissemination -, Türsak – the Turkish Cinema and Audiovisual Culture Foundation, a non -profit institution that works to the promotion of Turkish cinema through festivals, weeks of cinema and international events -, as well as the Turkey Embassy in Egypt. This partnership will strengthen the Turkish presence at the festival, notably with the screening of several Turkish films, the arrival of a delegation of fifteen representatives of the country’s audiovisual industry, and increased participation in the Cairo Film Market.
This cooperation illustrates the diplomatic role that Cinema can play and underlines the CIFF will to open more to the cinemas of the region while consolidating its links with Europe and Asia.
Created in 1976, the Cairo International Film Festival remains the oldest today and the only competitive festival recognized by FIAPF in the Arab world and in Africa. Its longevity testifies to its ability to combine regional roots and international influence. Each year, he offers a rigorous selection of films from around the world, by giving a privileged place to regional discoveries and the world’s first. Its professional activities, its film market and its public events make it a unique space for cultural dialogue, anchored in the history of the Egyptian capital and turned towards global exchanges.
With the arrival of Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the head of his jury, the 46ᵉ edition of the CIFF already promises to be a significant meeting of the cinematographic year. She promises to come across the eyes, to expand horizons, and to confirm the place of Cairo as an essential crossroads of the cinemas of the world.
Neïla Driss
