Opening film

Remember me,Director Gabriele Muccino, Italy. After 20 years of marriage, Gulia and Carlo start to question their lives and wonder how they managed to stray so far from their dreams, while their two teenage children also ponder the paths their lives have taken.

Competition FILMS

AUTUMN (YET) STRONG LOVE, Director Zita Furkova, Slovakia. A simple story about the complexity of a relationship between an aging composer and a young poet.

AY JUANCITO, Director Hector Olivera, Argentina. The life of Juan Ramón Duarte, Evita Peron’s brother. The film follows his life, leading to its mysterious end. His sudden, unexpected disappearance sparked a mystery: was it suicide, or political assassination?

BLACKOUT JOURNEY, Director Sigi Kammi, Germany. Mio and Valentin are brothers raised separately in Berlin and the Austrian Mountains. Hardly communicating in the years since their separation, they undertake a journey to Vienna filled with dramatic events and revelations.

Al Bahethat An Al-Horeya

JENYATI (CRIME),Director Mohammed Ali Saijadi, Iran. With a knife in his pocket, law student Siavash goes to meet an antique seller who wants to marry his sister. In a hysterical rage he murders him, with a witness present. Fearing that the girl will blackmail him, he follows her, confronts her and finally kills her.

BLAGOSLOVITE ZHENSHCHINU (BLESS THE WOMAN), Director Stanislav Govorukhin, Russia. Teenager Vera dreams of finding a fairy tale prince. A brief seaside encounter with the much older Red Army Commander Laritchev may seem like the answer, but as the storms clouds of WWII gather, things change dramatically.

KHALI MIN AL KOLESTROL (CHOLESTEROL-FREE),Director Mohamed Abou Seif, Egypt. The talents of a child artist working in television while caring for his mentally disabled mother are recognized by a corrupt advertising agency. He creates a group of counter-ads and is arrested in the wake of the release of his tape.

LE COU DE LA GIRAFE (GIRAFFE’S NECK), Director Safy Nebbou, France. Troubled nine-year-old Mathilde lives with her mother since her parents’ divorce. When she runs away, she is confronted with their lies about her grandparents.

I SKONI (DUST),Director Tassos Psarras, Greece. Chronis, a happily married Greek journalist with two children, suddenly finds himself in turmoil when his father disappears after having fought in the Greek Civil War. His life is turned upside down when he begins the grueling investigation to find the truth.

FRÁGIL (FRAGILE),Director Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Spain. Venus is a nine-year-old girl who lives alone with her father in an isolated valley producing homemade honey for a living.She falls in love with the bread-maker’s son, but they part against their will. Fifteen years later, her father dies and Venus is finally able to abandon her home in search of her only love.

MEYLEN ORZOTT TITKOK (GUARDED SECRETS),Director Zsuzsa Boszormeni, Hungary. Eighteen-year-old Irma Varro leaves the orphanage where she was raised to find the truth about her past. Pregnant, and having just secured a job as a cleaning woman, she makes a deal to sell her unborn child abroad through a child dealer. Irma then begins a search for her mother, with surprising results.

GUARDIANS OF THE CLOUDS,Director Luciano Odorisio, Italy. In the pastures of Cancello where goat-herders dwell, the clan of Don Giulini is surrounded by the hostility of the local townsfolk. Even though the war has just ended, the conflict between peasants and goat-herders has only just begun.

THE IVY MANSION LIFE,Director Abdullah Oguz, Turkey. A continuation of the successful TV series that goes by the same name, Seymen (the head of the powerful Karadag family) meets and marries the free-spirited and strong-willed Bahar in New York and brings her back to the Ivy Mansion in Capadoccia. Her presence unsettles the traditional house until she is struck by a terrible illness.

AL BAHETHAT AN AL-HOREYA (GIRLS LOOKING FOR FREEDOM),Director Inaas El-Deghedy, Egypt. Three Arab girls flee to Paris looking for freedom; Amal from Lebanon escapes the war, Soad the Moroccan flees from poverty, and Aida the Egyptian tries to fulfill her artistic ambitions.

LE PRINCE (THE PRINCE),Director Mohamed Zran, Tunisia. A realistic and poetic comedy that attempts to portray social relationships in contemporary Tunisia. Entirely shot on location in documentary style, it recounts the adventures of Adel, a dreamer, and a flower-seller, who attempts to seduce Donia, the beautiful banker who is 10 years his senior.

MEMOIRE EN DETENTION (MEMORY IN DETENTION),Director Jillahi Ferhati, Morocco. Upon being released from prison, a young delinquent agrees to help another prisoner who had become amnesiac during his long detention. Together, they set off on a search, but soon their quest becomes a painful return to their memories.

MORNING RAGA,Director Mahesh Dattani, India. A bus accident ends in tragedy, leaving villagers behind to cope with their losses. Twenty years later the people involved still struggle to cope with the aftermath of the incident.Morning Raga is the story of three of those lives, inextricably linked by their past and how they come to terms with their losses using the binding force of music.

ENTA OMRI (MY SOUL MATE),Director Khaled Youssef, Egypt. Youssef and his wife lead a tranquil life in coastal Hurghada with their young son until he is diagnosed with cancer. He decides not to tell his family and pretends he’s on a trip out of Egypt to cope on his own. He meets a young woman suffering the same plight and together they find comfort and love until his wife discovers about the affair.

SENSE OF GUILT,Director Claudio Fragasso, Italy. Francesco De Bernardi, chief inspector of the homicide division is a successful and hardworking man and a loving father to his rebellious eighteen-year-old son. He has a respectful and friendly relationship with an elderly judge. His life dramatically changes forever when he begins to investigate a grisly homicide case.

Prizes

The International Jury will present the following prizes to the competition films:

The Golden Pyramid Prize for best film, awarded to theproducer; The Silver Pyramid Special Jury Prize, awarded to the director; Prize for Best Actress; Prize for Best Actor; Prize for Best Director; The Saad El-Din Wahba Prize for best script; The Naguib Mahfouz Prize for the best first orsecond work, awarded to the director; The Best Artistic Contribution Prize, awarded to the director; and Best Arabic Film Prize contributed by the Ministry of Culture (LE 100,000) to the producer

JURY

Carlo Fuscagni, President of the Jury, Producer and President of CineCittà, Italy; Can Togay, Writer / Actor / Director, Hungary; Mohamad Al-Ahmad, Film Critic / Writer / Historian, Syria; Katerina Didaskalou, Actress, Greece; Poussy (Serfinaz Mustafa Quaderry), Actress, Egypt; Nader Galal, Director / Producer / Scriptwriter, Egypt; Gérard Corbiau, Director / Writer, Belgian; Karen Shakhnazarov, Director / Producer / Scriptwriter, Russia; Emma de Caunes, Actress / Director, France

SECTIONS

A special section of 40 Italian films including 15 classics, five starring late Italian actress Anna Magnani, and 25 recent productions will be screened. The selection includes Fellini and Bertolucci films.

The New Arab Cinema section will screen 11 Arabic films that were screened in last year’s festival, including Dance of the Wind and Bab El-Arsh (Door to the Throne) from Tunisia.

The Ten French Stars, Ten French Movies section will explore classical French films that starred 10 French actresses including Brigitte Bardot’s And God Created a Woman, and Emmanuelle Beart’s The Repetition

The Information Section will feature a variety of American films including Nicholas Cage’s Adaptation, Ewan McGregor’s Big Fish, Tommy Lee Jones’ The Missing and Bill Murray’s Lost in Translation.

A roundtable discussion will take place on December 2nd and will feature a full-day symposium about distributing European films in Egypt and Egyptian films in Europe. The event will be attended by a variety of international producers and filmmakers. There will also be at least one press conference per day. Consult the information center at the Hanager theater at the Cairo Opera House for further updates.

Tickets on sale: Good News Cinema at the Hyatt (LE 25LE 30); Family Cinema in Maadi (LE 10); CityStars Cinema in Heliopolis (LE 20), Cosmos Cinema in Emad El-Din (LE 10) and at the Heliopolis Club (LE 10) Thursday through Sunday only. Check our listings section for cinema numbers.

Information was correct at press time.  et