CAIRO – 7 March 2020: The ninth edition of Luxor African Film Festival kicked of on March 6.
A notable group of Egyptian, Arab and African filmmakers attended the opening ceremony such as international superstar, Jimmy Jean-Louis, African star Maimouna N'Diaye , the festival head acclaimed scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, the festival director Azza el Hosseiny, the festival honorary president veteran actor Mahmoud Hemeida, Zeina, Amr Abdel Geliel, Mostafa Shaaban, Rania Youssef, Rania Farid Shawky, Elham Chahine, Lebleba, among others.
LAFF opening that took place in Luxor temple and was presented by actress Sanaa Youssef and TV presenter Mona Salman.
The ceremony started with a dancing show presented by Reda troupe which is honored at the ninth edition of the festival on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, and the award was received by head of the cultural production sector, veteran director Khaled Galal, head of the cultural production sector who participated in the festival on behalf of the minister of culture Inas Abdel Dayem.
Hemeida in his speech talked about the continent of Africa and its people, welcoming all the African filmmakers who participates in the festival, noting that Luxor contains one third of the world's monuments.
The festival head affirmed his passion for cinema, and listed the achievements of the festival over the past years as it came near its first decade.
The festival director indicated that LAFF has become a young festival dedicated to young people, and she added that the current session is special as it bears the name of the late artist Farid Shawky, and also spoke about the festival’s programs and events.
Galal said that LAFF is one of the most important festivals in Egypt that is interested in African cinema, in the same time President Abdel Fatah al-Sis pays great attention to the African affairs.
The ninth edition of Luxor African Film Festival celebrated the centaury of late great artist Farid Shawky, his daughters actress Rania Farid Shawky and her sister director Abeer Farid Shawky and his wife Sohair Turk received the award.
Jean-Louis and Maimouna N'Diaye received an honorary trophy at the festival's opening ceremony which was be held at Luxor Temple.
Egyptian star Zeina was honoured in the festival opening ceremony, expressing her happiness to be honoured from a big Egyptian festival like LAFF.
fter receiving his honouring award, famed Egyptian actor Amr Abdel Geleil expressed his happiness with this honor, noting that this was his first award from a festival.
The festival’s management has chosen the African star Maimouna N'Diaye to be paid tribute during the 9th edition of the festival for her lifetime achievements and contributions to African cinema, as well as being a member of the jury for the long narrative competition.
Maimouna is one of the most prominent stars in African cinema, and one of the most talented actresses in the continent, she gained recognition for her role in “Eye of the Storm”, and was the only African member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival’s official competition, and she’s a multi-talented star, for she’s an amazing actress in France and Africa, as well as a documentary and narrative film director, and a social activist, especially for the issues of women and children.
Maimouna was born in France to Senegalese father, she grew up in Guinea before returning to France to study medicine at 18 years old, and that’s where she was attracted to theatre and studied performing arts at Le Sorbonne, where she studied further into the field.
Her real breakout in the world of theatre started in Côte d'Ivoire, where she joined the Yamako Tatary Company in 1995, a company that has a clear mission of spreading awareness towards health and social issues. She acted on stage and in film in Côte d'Ivoire for 10 years, before starting her career as a documentary director. She moved to Burkina Faso in 2005 where she continued her work in the field of theatre before breaking into film in Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Of her prominent plays “Butterfly Chasers” in 1992, “A Garden in Autumn” in 2005, “Movement” in 1997, “High School or Marriage”, as well as many short films including “A Plate of Love”, and a very prominent role in the film “Eye of the Storm”, which won many awards at FESPACO 2015, she was awarded the best actress for that film, and she voiced a character in the French animation film “Kirikou and the Sorceress” in 1998, which was translated to various languages including Japanese, and it gained over 20 awards from around the world, she has made several documentaries that are very prominent in her career including “Warbassaga” which covered the life of the Ivoirian Dancer “Warbassaga”, as well as “Slices of Life” in 2008, which portrayed different characters and images of the tragedies in Côte d'Ivoire between 2002 – 2004, she also directed the opening ceremony of the FESPACO in 2009.
Jimmy Jean-Louis was chosen to be the guest of honor for the 9th edition which will continue to March 12.
Two of Jean-Louis' s films will be screened as part of the festival’s program, “Desrances” from Burkina Faso, directed by Apolline Traoré, which participates in Long Narrative competition, and “Rattlesnakes” from the United States in the Diaspora section.
Jean-Louis will hold a press conference at Luxor Temple, and will take a Nile cruise in Luxor and Aswan to promote tourism.
Jimmy Jean-Louis lived in the slums of Haiti until the age of 12 until he moved to Paris.
He worked for three years in a musical theatre in Spain La Belle Epoque before embarking on a successful modelling career in Europe.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to pursue acting. His filmography includes ''Tears of the Sun'' with Bruce Wills, ''Hollywood Homicide'' with Harrison Ford, ''Monster-in-Law'' with Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez, ''Phat Girlz'' with Oscar winner Mo'Nique among others.
He also starred in some famous TV series such as ''Heroes'' , ''Heroes Reborn'', and Joy with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert DeNiro.
He is currently a regular on the number drama of the summer Claws which has been screened at TNT since 2017.
His most important role to date is playing the title character in ''Toussaint Louverture'', for which he won the best actor at the Pan African Film Festival and a nomination at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2012.
Jimmy Jean-Louis was named Ambassador at large to Haiti by his Excellency President Michel Martelly In 2014.
The ninth edition of Luxor African Film Festival kicked off from under the slogan of ''African Cinema From The Globe''.
The Egyptian film ‘’Wonder Box’’ was the festival’s opening movie. The movie revolves around four different tales. ‘’Wonder Box’’ will highlight the relentless attempts of the characters to balance between Cairo as a city and themselves, each in their own way.
The events happen simultaneously in one of the nights in Cairo , the extreme power and absurdity of Cairo will be shown in these tales, highlighting the effect of its merciless, inhuman and oppressive pace on the individual’s dreams.
‘’Wonder Box’’ staring Khaled el Sawy, Salah Abdallah, Bassem Samra, Rania Youssef among others. The movie is written by Emad Elbahat and Osama Habashy, and directed by Elbahat.
Emad Elbahat is Egyptian director born in Cairo, 1970. He started his career in the early 1990s, as a student and assistant director with late great director Youssef Chahine, and later worked with Daoud Abdel Sayed and Yousry Nasrallah.
He also produced videos, documentaries and advertising materials for European TV channels.
His first feature film, ‘’Hide and Seek’’, was developed at Carthage Film Festival and later participated in the Cairo Film Festival and Dubai Film Festival in the same year. In 2007 he co-wrote with Mohamed El-Feki his second film, El Belyatsho.
Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) is an annual film festival headed by acclaimed scriptwriter Sayed Fouad that is tailor made for African cinema in Luxor.
In October 2019 the Malmö Arab Film Festival recognized LAFF as one of the most important festivals specialized in African cinema.
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