Cairo Film Connection Reveals Selected Film Projects at Cairo International Film Festival

By Ahmed Fawzy

Cairo Film Connection revealed its lineup of film projects that have been selected to take part at its 9th edition that will be held during the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (13 – 22 November) as part of Cairo Industry Days.
The shortlisted film projects include 15 documentary and feature narrative projects in development and post-production phases from across the Arab world; Egypt (5 film projects), Tunisia (2 film projects), Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Palestine, and KSA.
It was revealed that 8 film projects are competing at the feature narrative section, including two projects in post-production; namely: “Inshallah A Boy” (Jordan) by director Amjad Al Rasheed and “Red Path” (Tunisia) by director Lotfi Achour. The film projects also include 6 feature narratives in development; namely: “Bad Friend” (Egypt) by director Ahmed El Ghoneimy; “Over Three Days” by director Tamer Ashry; “Cotton Queen” (Sudan) by director Suzannah Mirghani; “The Seasons of Jannet” (Tunisia) by director Mehdi Hmili; “Aziz Hala” (KSA) by director Jawaher Alamri; and “Bella” (Morocco) by director Mohcine Besri.
Furthermore, there are seven film projects at the documentaries section of Cairo Film Connection; including 3 projects in post-production: “Let’s Play Soldiers” (Yemen), by directors “Mariam Al-Dhubani and Mohammed Al-Jaberi; “The Last Man” (Egypt) by director Muhammad Salah; “Suspended” (Lebanon) by director Myriam El Hajj. On the other hand, the list revealed 4 film projects in development; namely: “A Butterfly Hug” (Egypt) by director Sally Abo Basha; “My Dad’s a Farmer” by director El Kheyer Zidani; “Searching for Woody” (Egypt) by director Sara Shazli; and “Theft of Fire” (Palestine) by director Amr Shomali.
Amir Ramses, Festival Director of Cairo International Film Festival, commented on this highlighting the role played by Cairo Film Connection in further supporting Arab cinema. He also expressed his delight for the continuous support received by Cairo Film Connection’s partners and sponsors. He further added that the joining of new partners to Cairo Film Connection reflects their trust in the film project selection of the most notable projects across the Arab world.
On the other hand, Lynda Belkhria, Manager of Cairo Film Connection, stated: “Through Cairo Film Connection, we want to consolidate the relationship between Arab industry and the international cinema by offering a selection of promising projects from ten countries of the Arab world that highlight different stories that reflect the reality of the situation faced in these countries.”
“A balanced selection between documentary and feature narrative, reflects the desire and the urgency of a diversified approach to storytelling, from the realistic to the pure fiction. We tried to create an organic selection in which every film is represented through its unique voice. Projects that reflect both the innovative strengths of the voice of the new generations of filmmakers, in a specific where the industry is facing harsh difficulties while the desire for original stories and creative filmmaking is ever growing.”
Held as part of Cairo Industry Days, Cairo Film Connection provides an important space for discussions, networking, meetings, workshops, master classes and partnership and co-production opportunities. It aims to establish connections between Arab talent, and regional and international key industry professionals, to further support Arab Cinema.

To be eligible for submission to Cairo Film Connection, projects must be directed by filmmakers of Arab nationality or origin and be a work of feature-length fiction or non-fiction in development or post-production phase. Also to be noted, the director of the project must have previously directed a minimum of one film, whether that is a short or feature-length project.
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest-standing film festivals in the Arab world and Africa and the only festival in the region to be accredited as an (A) festival by (FIAPF) – the International Federation of Film Producers.