Before the Summer Crowds, a film by renowned filmmaker Mohamed Khan, will premiere in Egypt and Africa at the 5th Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) scheduled from 17 to 23 March.

The film that has been chosen to represent Egypt in the (LAFF) feature film competition will close the festival. The organisers added that the director and actors -- including Hana Shiha, Ahmed Dawood and Lana Mushtaq --will attend the film screening.

The release of Before the Summer Crowds (Abl Zahmet El-Saif) across Egypt’s commercial cinemas, scheduled for March, is a drama and romance set at a resort by the sea.

It follows an estranged couple and their neighbour whose holiday plans do not go quite as expected. Starring Maged El-Kedwany, Hana Shiha and Ahmed Dawood, the film was written by Ghada Shahbandar and premiered at the 12th Dubai International Film Festival in December 2015, where it participated in the Muhr feature competition.

Headed by scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, LAFF’s 5th edition will honour Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, Moroccan critic Mustafa Elmesnawy and Ivorian director Henry Duparc.

This year’s jury of the feature film competition will comprise of director Flora Gomes (Guinea Bissau), director Moussa Touré (Senegal), actor Driss El-Rokh (Morocco), actress Sawsan Badr (Egypt) and director Magdy Ahmed Aly (Egypt).


Thirteen films are set to compete in this category, including Reveries of the Solitary Actor (Hamid Benamra-Algeria), Without Regret (Jacques Trabi-Cote D’Ivoire), Shadow of Madness (Boubacar Gakou-Mali), Starve Your Dog (Hicham Lasri-Morocco), The Unseen (Perivi John Katjavivi-Namibia), The Missing God (Ubaka Joseph Ugochukwu-Nigeria) and Mona (Anthony Abuah-Nigeria).

The 5th Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) aims to support and encourage African film production and partnership between continental countries through the consolidation of the humanitarian and political ties between people of Africa in general and among African artists in particular.

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