Renowned Egyptian film critic, writer and film historian Samir Farid will be given the Berlinale Camera Award on 15 February at the yearly Berlin International Film Festival.

The award is given to film institutions or figures that have significantly contributed to the festival or the industry.

Farid is one of three people to be given the award this year, the other two being Hong Kong film distributor and producer Nansun Shi as well as Australian actor Geoffrey Rush

The author and translator of over sixty books, Farid is widely recognised as one of the most prominent film personalities of the Arab world and has been contributing to the Berlinale as a film critic for decades.

Born in 1943, Farid initially studied film at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts at the Academy of Arts in Cairo.

He began his career working as a film critic for the Egyptian publication Al-Gomhoreya in 1965, continuing to work there for 38 years before moving on to Al-Masry Al-Youm in 2004.

Farid also worked as a correspondent for Variety magazine during the 1980s.

In the 1970s, he became a member of the International Federation of Film Critics.

During this period, he co-founded a number of festivals and institutions, including the National Festival of Short and Documentary Films in 1970, the National Festival of Feature Films in 1971, as well as the Egyptian Film Critics Association in 1972.

Throughout his life, Farid served as a jury member in many international festivals, including the Oberhausen Film Festival, the Torino Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival.

His achievements and extensive contributions to the world of cinema were rewarded with the Cannes Film Festival Gold Medal in both 1997 and 2000, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Osian’s Cinefan Festival in New Delhi in 2012 and at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2013.

Farid has also published a number of his works in Al-Ahram Weekly.

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