"We are always developing and looking at how we can improve," said Magda Wassef, director of the 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), speaking in response to criticism this year's edition received. The festival has a small team for what it aims to achieve, and viewers have come to expect a lot from the 9-day event, she added.

The 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which ran between 15 and 24 November this year, showcased over 100 films at venues across Cairo.

Many critics and observers expressed their disappointment on social media platforms, pointing to a series of organisational problems this year. Criticisms voiced included an "unsatisfactory" film selection, the absence of stars, and technical failures, such as problems in the screening equipment or ticketing system.

Responding to the last point, Wassef said: “This year we changed the ticketing system for entering the halls to passes and tickets that indicate seat numbers. This system may not be perfect because the company providing that service wasn’t tested well and the festival was bigger than their capacity. [The ticketing system] won’t be effective in the first trial, and hopefully it will be more successful in coming editions when the audience gets used to it."

The change in the ticketing system came in the wake of incidents in previous editions where audiences crammed and pushed their way into screening halls to reach their seats.

Wassef pointed out that the company responsible for the ticketing system “forgot to include [in their plans] support staff, such as security officers, translators, or even the ushers, all of whom need card to move around the screening venues.”

Another problem reported by audiences referred to the producer and director of the Egyptian film El-Bar El-Tany (The Other Land), who bought 400 tickets on screening day, leaving very few tickets available for the general public. 

To that, Wassef explained that the festival provides a number of invitations to film makers, including embassies of the co-producing films, which receive 10 free invitations.

“A Day for Women and The Other Land were two films that requested additional invitations, and we could only give them the allowed amount: 50 invitations for the cast and crew. The producer wished to invite more guests and he bought tickets for his friends. That’s his right that we can’t dispute it. The Main Hall at the Opera House has 1,080 seats, so buying 400 is up to him. I am just clarifying that we did not favour him with special treatment or extra invitations.”

Another issue surrounding the film The Other Land was a rumour that the film bribed the festival to be included in the competition.

Wassef denied these allegations as attempts to tarnish the festival’s reputation. In response, Wassef said that “the biggest proof [that the allegation is not true] is that the festival is still in debt and awaiting the festival’s budget from the government."

She added that the selection committee “had some comments about The Other Land, including the excessive flashback scenes, and the director, Ali Edries, who was asked by Youssef Sherif Rizakallah, the festival’s artistic director, to adjust some scenes.”

"When Edries reworked the film with Rizakallah’s comments in mind, the festival announced its participation in competition," she added.

Samir then asked Wassef to comment on an incident where one of the bodyguards of an unnamed celebrity verbally insulted a female journalist, pointing out that similar incidents also took place in previous editions of the festival.

“We tried to avoid any such problems by cooperating with an insurance company, and working with the Cairo Opera House’s security team, but the festival can’t be held responsible for individual behaviours,” Wassef said.

The overall quality of the festival was described by some viewers as poor, and reportedly also by some visiting directors, including Licínio Azevedo, Brazilian director of The Train of Salt and Sugar.

Wassef acknowledged this as a problem, saying her requests to buy new screening equipment for the festival were met with unfulfilled promises by the Ministry of Culture and the Cairo Opera House.

Wassef added her own perspective, saying that her efforts regarding this issue were ongoing since January, and yet “The Opera House was neither cooperative regarding changing the 20-year-old screen in the Main Hall, nor supportive with replacing the one in the Small Hall with the screen rented by the festival organisers.”

Wassef's complaints hinted that she was not interested in running the festival’s future editions.

“I feel like the festival’s presence is a burden on them [the Cairo Opera House administration], as they don’t like cinema or the festival, and I think the person who will direct the festival in the future should consider screening elsewhere, because the Opera House is a place of rejections and obstacles,” she said.

Wassef further felt that the festival has too small a team in comparison to its magnitude, and a lot is expected of it, despite its limited resources.

Wassef explained that the festival's budget comes from a number of parties, including EGP 6 million that should be provided by the Ministry of Culture and EGP 2 million by the Mnistry of Tourism in charge of hosting international guests. "We haven't received those amounts yet," she explained, adding that the festival also receives EGP 1 million from the Youth and Sports Ministry, which supports youth in the festival.

Speaking of youth, one major problem this year was that students of the Cinema Institute reportedly didn’t receive passes to the film screenings as promised.

Wassef explained that the organisers prepared the passes for all Cinema Institute students, which would allow the students to attend two screenings per day. The institute objected to that limitation and asked for additional invitations to be provided with the passes. "However, though we provided the mentioned passes, until the festival's final day, they were not collected by the institute," she said. 

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