The Film Society Festival will kick off its 46th edition on 25 January where eight Egyptian feature films will be screened at the Artistic Creativity Center of the Cairo Opera House competing for several prizes.
The one-week annual event by the Cairo Film Society has shortlisted eight films out of 33, and on 8 February the final awards will be revealed by the jury, which includes members of the association, critics and a number of specialists.
"The winners will be based on a number of artistic criteria, such as decor, direction, story, scenario, and dialogue," reads a statement by the festival, whose president is director of photography Mahmoud Abdel-Samie.
Many iconic names of Egyptian cinema will be honoured during the festival including actors Ali Al-Kassar and Tewfik El-Dekn, scriptwriter Abo El-Seoud El-Ebiary and director Mamdouh Shoukry, in addition to some contemporary filmmakers like director Daoud Abdel-Sayed, scriptwriter Wahid Hamed, musician Mounir Al-Wassimi, actor Lotfi Labib, art director Nihad Bahgat and critic Salah Hashim.
Legendary actress Samiha Ayoub will be the festival's guest of honour.
The 46th edition is dedicated to late critic Youssef Cherif Rizkallah for his "eternal imprint on the annals of cinematic history."
Founded in 1960, the event is one of the oldest festivals supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
The eight films shortlisted, most of which have gained great commercial success, are:
- "The Guest" directed by Hadi El-Bagoury
- "The Secret Men’s Club" by Khaled El Halafawy
- "The Passage" by Sharif Arafa
- "Blue Elephant 2" by Marwan Hamed
- "The Treasure 2" by Sharif Arafa
- "Rizk's Sons 2" by Tarek Al Eryan
- "Scarecrow" by Khaled Meraai
- "When We're Born" by Tamer Azat
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