The management of the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival announced that film critic Mohamed Atef will be the artistic director of the festival.

Atef expressed his happiness to Samir Sabri, the festival's president, and the members of the supreme consultative body headed by the writer Mohammed Salmawi.

He stated that the expected number of films participating in the various programmes of the festival is 45. Submission are still open for films produced in 2019-2020 and which have not been shown in Egypt.

The submission deadline is 15 March, with films to be in their original language with English subtitles.

The festival will give awards in several categories, including feature documentary and short documentary.

Atef is one of the most prominent programmers of film festivals in the Arab region.

Besides his new responsibility with the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival, he is also a programmer for El-Gouna Film Festival in Egypt and the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden. He is also a member of the selection committee for development and post-production grants by the Malmö Arab Film Festival market, CineGouna Platform, the production arm of El-Gouna Film Festival, and the Light Competition for film support organised by the Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He is also a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Film Critics Association.

Previously, Atef worked as the artistic director of the Ismailia Documentary and Short Films Festival, the artistic director of the Luxor Arab and European Film Festival, director of the Short Film Competition at Cairo International Film Festival, and member of the Supreme Committee for Festivals and Local and International Competitions.

The first edition of the Alexandria Francophone Film Festival is set to take place between 12 and 17 of June 2020, with France as the festival’s guest of honour.

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