Rising Stars – Itinerant Cinema in Egypt aims to support and enhance independent Egyptian cinema production through documentary workshops and open public lectures, production of short documentaries, and an Itinerant Film Festival to disseminate the work of Egyptian filmmakers.

Asly Masry (Original Egyptian) is the main theme of this festival: a collection of films made by Egyptians, produced in Egypt or talking about Egypt, under the artistic direction of the cinema critic Essam Zakaria,

The first stop of the festival will be in Cairo, at the Italian Cultural Institute (Zamalek) and will be composed of a competition section opened to short films and documentaries; an extra section, with all types of films (short, long, documentary, feature, animation) and the rising stars section that will screen a preview of the short documentaries produced by the project and a photo exhibition - with backstage and still photos from the rising stars documentaries production.

Afterward, a selection of Asly Masry screenings will move to Port Said (26 – 28 January) and Miniya (2- 4 February).

The Rising Stars Project and the Asly Masry Film Festival are implemented by Ricerca e Cooperazione NGO in partnership with SEMAT House for Production and Distribution and in collaboration with: ICI – Italian Cultural Insitute, CFCC - Centre Français de Culture et Cooperation and BEBA - Baad el Bahr Cultural Association. The project is co-financed by the European Union.

Asly Masry screenings will take place in Cairo between 19 and 22 January 2012 at 6pm, in the Italian Cultural Institute of Cairo, 3 El Sheikh El Marsafi, Zamalek