15 Projects From 8 Arab Countries in the Tenth CFC

By Ahmed Fawzy

The Cairo Film Connection (CFC) announced the projects that have been chosen to take part in the tenth edition of Cairo Film Industry Days, scheduled to take place within the proceedings of the 45th CIFF, which will be held from 15 to 24 November. Basically, the list includes 15 cinematic projects from 8 countries in post-production and development phases; 5 from Egypt, 2 from Tunisia, 2 from Iraq, 2 from Lebanon, and 1 from Sudan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.

CFC Projects
As for the post-production phase, 5 projects were chosen: Yomna Khattab’s documentary “Fifty Meters” (Egypt), Angie Obeid’s documentary “Yalla, Baba!” (Lebanon), Oday Rasheed’s feature film “Songs of Adam” (Iraq), Ali Toffan Al-Fatlawi’s feature film “Al Baseer – The Blind Ferryman” (Iraq), and Sara Labidi’s feature film “Wear & Tear” (Tunisia).

Regarding the development phase, 10 projects were selected: Helmy Nouh’s feature film “Garden of Freedom” (Egypt), Asmaa Gamal’s documentary “My Dream Is to Fly” (Egypt), Dessil Mekhtigian’s documentary “Ya Balady” (Egypt), Khaled Mansour’s feature film “After Midnight” (Egypt), Alyaa Musa’s documentary “Becoming Omar Khairy” (Sudan), Rania Refai’s documentary “The Day of Wrath: Tales From Tripoli” (Lebanon), Firas Khoury’s feature film “Dear Mister Tarkovsky” (Palestine), Mujtaba Saeed’s feature film “Drowning” (Saudi Arabia), Sarah Kechemir’s “Echoes” (Algeria), and Amine Boukhris’ documentary “Solo” (Tunisia).

CIFF’s President Hussein Fahmy stated: “CFC is regarded as a breathing room for Egyptian and Arab filmmakers, which leads to supporting and developing their films. Indeed, I was so glad with the discussions of the past edition. I’m pleased with the success that CFC achieves each year. Eventually, this is reflected in the film industry in Arab countries through the powerful and influential projects that the festival supports”.

CIFF’s Director Amir Ramses declared: “I’m glad with the strategic role of CFC. A significant number of unique Arab works and guests took part in the ninth edition. This year, we are keen to repeat this concept through providing the best possible support to Arab filmmakers. We aim at helping them to present and develop their films in order to take part in prominent global forums, as was the case with “Inshallah a Boy” and “Four Daughters” which received 3 awards at the Cannes International Film Festival.

CFC’s Manager Lynda Belkhiria stated: “Marking a decade of excellence in supporting Arab film projects, CFC has established itself as a globally renowned platform since its inception, contributing to the international success of a number of films on an international scale. In addition to presenting a variety of poignant narratives and highly diverse themes, this year’s selection stands out with the presence of strong female-driven projects, achieving gender balance among participants—a challenge often faced in the cinema industry. This is a strong indicator of the constant progress of Arab women in the film industry”.

“CFC” is held within the proceedings of Cairo Film Industry Days. Additionally, it is a platform that offers a space for discussions, communication, meetings, workshops and sessions. It is targeted at supporting talents in the Arab world and drawing attention to them. The director of a participating project is required to be an Arab. Furthermore, a film must be a long feature or documentary in the development or post-production phases. A project director must have presented at least a single film, whether it was long or short.

CIFF is one of the most prestigious and long-standing festivals in the Arab World and Africa. It is unique as it is the only festival in the Arab and African region accredited as category “A” by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in Brasilia, France.