Cairo Film Festival Keeps it Local

Egyptian films and stars topped the lists at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), with the Golden Pyramid for best film awarded to Al Shooq (Lust), directed by Khaled Al Haggar. Al Shooq’s leading lady Sawsan Badr took home the trophy for Best Actress. The award for Best Actor went to Amr Waked for his role in the Italian film The Father and the Foreigner by director Ricky Tognazzi, while the top Arab Film award went to Ahmad Abdallah’s Microphone; an indie film about Alexandria’s underground art scene (see page 74 for Egypt Today’s interview with Ahmed Abdallah). The 2010 CIFF debuted a new competition called the Cairo Film Connection, awarding a LE 100,000 pre-production grant from the Egyptian Film Center and Misr International Films to Ayten Amin’s script 69 Medan El-Mesaha (69 El-Mesaha Square), a dark comedy about a 62-year-old terminally ill man whose views on life are changed by visits by characters from his past. The 10-day festival, held November 30 through December 9, is one of the oldest cinema events in the Arab world. The 2010 edition screened 147 films from 70 different countries, drawing international luminaries such as the Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche and American star Richard Gere.