The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) announced that actor Hussein Fahmy will be the president of his 44th edition, which should be held at the end of 2022. He succeeded to the producer and screenwriter Mohamed Hefzy, who led the festival for four consecutive years.
This came in application of the decision rendered by Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture, who thanked Mohamed Hefzy for his efforts during his presidency of the festival, wishing him a lot of success in his career as a producer and screenwriter.
The Minister of Culture has also announced that a new tradition is scheduled for the coming days, namely a ceremony for the presidency of the festival, in the presence of both the old and the future president.
For his part, Mohamed Hefzy, the former president of the festival, commented the decision by declaring: “ I am proud of my four years to the presidency of the Cairo International Film Festival, working with a large team of talented people, with the aim of raising the festival towards greater local, regional and international recognition and to make it an important platform to help careers and support the projects of independent filmmakers in Egypt and in the Arab world and attract the greatest number of moviegoers ».
He then added: ” I had always intended to stay three years at the head of the festival, but because of the circumstances and the pandemic, they had ended up being four formidable and memorable, the most important of my cinema career so far».
And to conclude: ” All my thanks and my gratitude go to her excellence, the Minister of Culture, Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem for her constant support, and to my team who worked tirelessly for the festival year after year. My sincere congratulations also to our legendary star, Hussein Fahmy, for his return to the presidency of the CIFF. I wish him a lot of success and prosperity ».
Mohamed Hefzy
Hussein Fahmy had already been president of CIFF from 1998 to 2001. The Egyptians also have a good memory of his presidency, and especially of the prestigious guests he had been able to receive at the festival, such as Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon, Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren. But there, he will have to redouble their efforts to continue on the momentum of his predecessor, who in 4 years, had managed to make a leap forward at this festival and that on several planes. Mohamed Hefzy, for example, was able to increase the festival budget, in particular by finding new sponsors and modernizing management and communication, gave greater place to cinema professionals especially through Cairo Industry Daysand took Several measures which had significantly increased the number of spectators, As for example the introduction of virtual reality, the organization of a daily red carpet, the creation of a food court allowing moviegoers and cinema professionals to meet and discuss films….
The Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most frequented festivals in the Arab and Africa world. It is the only festival in the Arab and African region to have obtained category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers in Paris (FIAPF).
Neïla Driss
