Screenshot from Sukkar Abyad
(Photo: Courtesy of the Festival)
The French Institute in Cairo will launch the 11th edition of the Festival des Rencontres de l'Image (Meetings of the Image) between 2 and 8 May.
The festival, which was first launched in 2005, aims at offering an opportunity for young film directors to screen their very first films, said Isabelle Siegneur, cultural attachée of the French Institute in Cairo, during a press conference.
Out of 118 films originally submitted to the festival this year, 24 films by young Egyptian directors will be screened as a part of the festival’s competition.
Awards include opportunities to travel to France and attend several film festivals. Two films, Sukkar Abyad (White Sugar) by Ahmed Khaled and Tarot by Ahmed Roshdy, will participate in this year’s edition of Cannes Film Festival. Aroma Production Company, the festival’s partner, will cover film production and post production costs for one of the winners, which will be selected by members of the jury: Taher Chikhaoui; film critic and artistic director of Rencontres d’Aflam from Marseille; and filmmakers Nadia Kamel and Islam ElAzzazi.
The festival will also screen seven graduation projects by students of La Fémis, a film school in France, but they will not be a part of the competition.
In addition to films by young directors, the festival will feature works of renowned and mid-career film directors, out of the competition.
On the opening night, the festival will commence with a screening of the French documentary Je Suis Le Peuple (I am the People) by Anne Roussillon, who will be present during the night with the film’s protagonist.
Jury member Taher Chikhaoui will curate two film evenings, in the presence of featured directors. Egyptian filmmaker Ayten Amin will select a group of short films by renowned Egyptian directors to be presented on two nights, and film critic Fatma Amer will organise two more shows of long fiction films.
The films will be scheduled over a week of two daily shows, at 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm, each followed by a discussion.
“Discussions are important, they allow the directors to see each others work and exchange feedback,” Siegneur said.
The 11th edition of the festival will not only feature films, a photography exhibition will show a series of images entitled “Here the Light is Raw”, which the French artist Cristophe Brogliolo took with a basic pinhole camera.
The artist, who is currently based in Luxor, uses just photo paper and a can that has a hole, to record moments of daily life off the beaten track of the touristic city, and develops the images in his own house.
“I leave my place with 4 or 5 cans, each one gives me only one photo- the very first photo in history was taken by this technique,” Brogliolo said.
The Rencontres De L'Image Festival will take place between 2 and 8 May in the French Institute in Cairo
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