Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy has been selected to head the jury of the upcoming edition of the Cairo International Film Festival in November.

A celebrated actor with over 100 films in his career, Fahmy was the president of CIFF for four years between 1998 and 2001.

He was also the head of jury at several international film festivals, including, Muscat, Oran, and was a jury member at the Arab World Festival in Paris.

Born in Cairo in 1940, Fahmy graduated with a bachelor in directing from the Higher Institute of Cinema, and went on to pursue a Master in Fine Arts at UCLA in California.

His 4-decade long career is peppered with awards. He won best actor award for his role in Entabeho Ayuha El-Sada (Watch Out, Gentlemen), and best actor for his role El-Aar (The Shame), and an award for El-Ekhwa El-Aadaa (The Rivaling Brothers).

He won a Murex d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award, the prestigious Arab art award from Lebanon.

The Syndicate of Journalists honored him for his roles that dealt with the 6th of October war, most notably the film El-Rosasa La Tazal Fi Gaiby (The Bullet is Still in my Pocket).

He got into acting after director Hussein El-Imam gave him a role in the film Dalal El-Masreya (Dalal The Egyptian, 1970), and afterwards director Mohamed Salem cast him in Nar El-Shouq (Fire of Longing, 1970).

The actor successfully avoided being boxed into playing the same roles of the charming romantic young man, such as Khalli Balak Min ZouZou (Watch Out for Zou Zou, 1972), and made it a point to present variety in his roles.

Some of the films that exhibit this flexibility are El-Laab Maa El-Kebar (Big Guys Game, 1991), Mawed Ala El-Ashaa (Dinner Date, 1981), and Eskenderia Kaman W Kaman (Alexandria Again, Forever, 1989), his only collaboration with the late renowned director Youssef Chahine.

Fahmy also has a number of roles in television and theatre.

He was a presenter for a show titled Elnas wa Ana (The People and I), which aired on the Egyptian television and El-Hayah Channel.

Fahmy has also taught directing at the Academy of Arts for over 10 years.

He was UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for the Arab states for nine years since 1998, and was named the first Special Olympics Ambassador for the MENA region in 2007.

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