The Cairo International Film Festival's (CIFF) 41st edition will open on Wednesday and will be presented by three famous Egyptian actors.

Khaled El-Sawy, Dina El-Sherbiny and Ahmed Dawoud will present the ceremony, which will be held at the Cairo Opera House's main hall and will be directed by Hisham Fathy.

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual international film festival organised by the Ministry of Culture in Egypt and presided over by Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy (who was also the 40th CIFF's president).

Late film critic and historian Youssef Cherif Rizkallah will be honoured through many activities throughout the festival. Rizkallah passed away in July 2019 and critic Ahmed Shawky has been delegated to take care of all the tasks related to this position this year.

The festival will also shed light on veteran Egyptian filmmaker Sherif Arafa (honoured for his lifetime achievements with the Faten Hamama Honorary Award) and actress Menna Shalaby (honoured with the Faten Hamama Excellence Award).

Designed by famous sculptor Adam Hanin, the awards are granted every year to senior and promising artists in the local and international cinema scene.

This year, the festival will screen 150 films (130 feature films, and 20 shorts) representing 63 countries. A large number of films will have their international or regional premieres. They include 18 world premieres, 17 international premieres, 84 MENA premieres, five African premieres and seven Middle East premieres.

At the top of the festival’s competitive segment is CIFF's main competition, which includes 15 films from all across the world. The International Critics' Week Competition comprises seven films with two awards offered to the winners: the Shadi Abdel-Salam Award for Best Film, awarded to the director, and the Fathy Farag Award for Best Artistic Contribution. Another section of the CIFF is the Cinema of Tomorrow International Competition for short fiction films.

Aside from the films competing for awards, cinephiles will be able to watch dozens of films screened in out of competition segments: Special Screenings, International Panorama, Panorama of the New Egyptian Films, Midnight Screenings and an expanded Virtual Reality segment.

The 41st CIFF announced Mexico as the country in focus with numerous events dedicated to the country and its film industry. Renowned Mexican filmmakers will be honoured and eight films will be screened.

The festival will also grant $15,000 for Best Arab Film Award, offered to the producer of a film chosen by the jury, especially for any Arab film participating in any one of the festival's three competitions (the International Competition, the AFAC Competition, and the International Critics' Week Competition).

In its last edition, the CIFF introduced the Cairo Industry Days. Now in its second edition, the Cairo Industry Days brings together local and international filmmakers, producers and other figures involved in the industry with the aim of creating many opportunities for Arab filmmakers and storytellers. Industry panels include film and TV workshops, master classes and in-conversations, conferences and summits, as well as Cairo Film Connection, a segment dedicated to supporting film projects in development and in post-production.

The festival will open with a screening of Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. The $160 million Netflix production is based on Charles Brandt's book 'I Heard You Paint Houses.' The film stars Robert De Niro in his ninth cooperation with Scorsese, as well as Academy Award winners Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. 

Check the festival's full programme here