This morning, the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) unveiled the lineup for its 46th edition, taking place from October 12 to 21, 2025, during a press briefing that drew attention from critics and filmmakers alike. This year’s festival is guided by a single theme: humanity. Across its various programs, CIFF 2025 celebrates stories that explore what it means to be human—films that dwell on emotions, relationships, and the intimate experiences that shape our lives.
The selected films promise to offer perspectives on resilience, love, memory, and the challenges of existence, creating a space where cinema becomes a mirror for the human condition.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the Helm
Presiding over the International Competition Jury is the acclaimed Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose work is celebrated worldwide for its philosophical depth and sensitivity to human emotion. Known for contemplative narratives and striking visual composition, Ceylan has repeatedly been honored at the Cannes Film Festival: Distant (2003) won both the Grand Prix and Best Actor, Three Monkeys (2008) earned him Best Director, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) claimed another Grand Prix, and Winter Sleep (2014) received the Palme d’Or. Most recently, his About Dry Grasses brought the Best Actress award at Cannes 2023, reaffirming his enduring influence on world cinema.
Joining him on the jury are filmmaker Nadine Khan (Egypt), editor Simona Paggi (Italy), director Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia), filmmaker Guan Hu (China), director Bogdan Mureșanu (Romania), and actress Basma (Egypt). Together, they will evaluate a selection of films notable for their diversity, originality, and human focus.
The International Competition Lineup
The twelve films in this year’s international competition offer a wide range of perspectives on the human experience.
Calle Málaga by Maryam Touzani (Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, 2025, 116 min) tells the story of an elderly Spanish woman in Tangier who refuses to leave her home despite her daughter’s insistence on selling it. In her quiet determination, she reconnects with love, desire, and a lifetime of memories. Premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received the Audience Award – Armani Beauty (Orizzonti Extra), the film is a tender meditation on attachment, memory, and the dignity of remaining true to oneself.
From Canada, Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s Death Does Not Exist (2025, 75 min) follows Hélène as she flees into the forest after a failed armed assault. There, transformative events disrupt the natural order, creating a poetic exploration of metamorphosis and chaos.
From the UK, Dragonfly by Paul Andrew Williams (2025, 98 min) examines care and deception. Colleen takes responsibility for her elderly neighbor Elsie when professional care falls short—but her good intentions may mask hidden motives.
Representing Tunisia, Mehdi Hmili’s Exile (Tunisia, Luxembourg, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, 2025, 120 min) tells the story of Mohamed, a steelworker left with a metal shard embedded in his head after an industrial accident. Reassigned to guard duty, he embarks on a path of revenge that uncovers a deeper conspiracy while his body slowly deteriorates.
Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s Once Upon a Time in Gaza (France, Palestine, Germany, Portugal, Qatar, Jordan, 2025, 87 min) is set in Gaza, 2007. A student, Yahia, befriends Osama, a charismatic dealer, and together they begin selling drugs out of a falafel shop. Their partnership is tested by corruption, violence, and the need to survive. The film won the Best Director award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
One More Show by Mai Saad & Ahmed Eldanf (Egypt, Palestine, 2025, 74 min) captures the backstage lives of the Free Gaza circus troupe, performing amid devastation. The documentary reveals the troupe’s resilience and defiance, turning art into an act of hope in the face of despair.
In Renovation (Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium, 2025, 90 min), Gabrielė Urbonaitė portrays Ilona, a 29-year-old perfectionist confronting her future as she moves into a seemingly ideal apartment. When renovations begin, cracks appear not only in the building but in her life and relationship.
Sand City (Bangladesh, 2025, 99 min) by Mahde Hasan intertwines two stories around sand: Emma discovers a severed finger while collecting sand for her cat litter, while Hasan dreams of building his own glass factory using stolen silica sand. Their lives intersect only metaphorically, revealing obsessions, desires, and human fragility.
Souraya, Mon Amour (Lebanon, Qatar, 2025, 81 min) by Nicolas Khoury follows dancer and actress Souraya Baghdadi as she revisits her life with her late husband, filmmaker Maroun Baghdadi, uncovering the persistence of love and memory through archival footage and quiet reflection.
The Silent Run (Belgium, Canada, 2025, 94 min) by Marta Bergman tells the story of Sara and Adam, who arrived illegally in Belgium with their two-year-old daughter, dreaming of finally reaching England. Their journey is a tender meditation on exile and human resilience.
In The Things You Kill (Turkey, Canada, France, Poland, 2025, 113 min), Alireza Khatami explores vengeance and conscience as a university professor coerces his gardener into a murder, forcing him to confront buried family secrets and his own moral abyss.
Finally, Zafzifa (Malta, 2025, 99 min) by Peter Sant depicts Dimitrios drifting through a seaside town haunted by a mysterious past, until he meets Annie. Both carry invisible scars and unfulfilled desires, and while fate brings them together, circumstances threaten to pull them apart once more.
A Profoundly Human Selection
CIFF 2025’s twelve international competition films collectively reflect cinema at its most essential: a search for meaning, intimate storytelling, and an exploration of the human condition. Each work portrays characters navigating loss, love, resistance, or the passage of time, affirming that humanity—in its fragility and resilience—remains the heart of cinema.
Neïla Driss
