The Egyptian film ‘Luxor’ will be screened at the upcoming special edition of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), which will take place between 3 and 11 July 2020.

"Since the government’s plan for loosening the lockdown on June 8 will allow cinemas to screen movies to a specified number of viewers (50), the festival has decided to organise a special version of the traditional KVIFF at Your Cinema (July 3 - 11, 2020) programme, whereby each year the best of the festival tours cities around the country," reads the festival's press release.

As such, 16 films will be screened at 96 movie theatres across the Czech Republic.

The selection includes Luxor, a film written and directed by Zeina Durra. 

The film talks about British aid worker Hana, who upon her return to the ancient city of Luxor comes across Sultan, a talented archaeologist and former lover.

"As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present," the brief on IMDb reveals.

The film was nominated to the Grand Jury Prize at the World Cinema segment of the Sundance Film Festival (2020).

Luxor features Andrea Riseborough and Janie Aziz.

Luxor's premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival (Photo: IMDb)

This is not the first time for the Czech Republic's largest film festival to include Egypt's participation in its programming.

Last year, when held in its typical location, Karlovy (a spa town in the west Bohemia region of the country), the festival honoured late iconic Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine (1926-2008) with a large retrospective of 11 re-mastered films consisting of lesser-known early works as well as established classics.

In 2018, Dreamaway, an Egyptian documentary film produced by Roman Roitman, (Monokel/Germany) and Mark Lotfy (Fig Leaf Studio/Egypt) had its international premiere at the KVIFF's 53rd edition.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic. Every year, the festival presents some 200 films from around the world, and regularly hosts famous and important filmmakers.

The festival was launched in 1946 in Mariánské Lázně before moving to Karlovy Vary in 1947 and becoming a competitive festival with the main award being the Crystal Globe. In 1956, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) officially designated Karlovy Vary a ‘category A’ festival. 

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