The 21st edition of the National Egyptian Cinema Festival will run from 18 to 25 October in seven cities: Cairo, Alexandria, Sohag, El-Minya, Al-Arish, Luxor, and Mansoura, with this year’s theme being ‘Cinema rays for the future.’

The festival is organized by the Culture Development Fund and is directed by Samir Seif.

In Cairo, screenings of short films, short documentaries, and animated films will take place at Hanager Cinema in Zamalek.

Other screenings will be held at Alexandria’s El-Horia Cultural Center, El-Minya University, El-Minya Culture Palace (until 21 October), and the General Library in Minya, as well as the The Luxor Culture Palace (also until 21 October) and The General Library in Luxor.

Sohag’s screenings will be at the Culture Palace, in Al-Arish at The Youth City, and in Mansoura at The General Library in Mansoura.

The festival will honor actress Lobna Abdelaziz, director Khairy Bichara, cinematographer Mohsen Ahmed, and film editor Laila Fahmy.

The sections of the festival include competitions for long feature films, short feature films, documentaries under 15 minutes, documentaries over 15 minutes, and animated films.

Some of the films competing in the long feature section include: Clash; Hell in India; Hepta; Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces; and Nawara, among others.

The highest award of the festival is for the Best Feature film, with a prize of EGP 300,000.

Prizes are also awarded for all aspects of filmmaking for participating feature films.

In addition, documentary and animated films will compete in their respective separate categories for best film, as well as for three smaller awards in the names of filmmakers Saad Nadim, Shady Abdelsalam, and Antoine Selim.

For more details on the screenings and the full schedule click here.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts  and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture