Twelve films by the renowned Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa will be screened at the Artistic Creativity Centre starting 5 July to 14 July, while three screenings will also be held in El-Horreya Centre for Creativity in Alexandria on 17 and 18 July.

The festival will open with the film The Hidden Fortress and will be followed by a discussion with Japanese director Takashi Koizumil and Egyptian film critics Magda Khairallah and Tarek El-Shinnawy.

Kurosawa is one of the important filmmakers in world cinema who has made over 30 films in his lifetime. His international breakthrough was with the film Rashomon, which combines two short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Among his awards are an honorary Academy Award for his cinematic accomplishments, a Palme d'Or for his film Kagemusha, a BAFTA award for Ran, the Silver Bear at the Berlinale for The Hidden Fortress and a Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1982.

Programme:

Artistic Creativity Centre in the Cairo Opera House:

Thursday 5 July
6:00 pm: Opening of the film festival
6:15 pm: The Hidden Fortress
8:30 pm: Discussion

Friday 6 July (Humanist films night)
5:00 pm: Red Beard (Age limit: 16 years or older)
8:30 pm: Drunken Angel

Saturday 7 July (Literary figures night: Dostoyevsky and Akutagawa)
5:00 pm: The Idiot
8:30 pm: Rashomon

Sunday 8 July
6:00 pm: Seven Samurai

Monday 9 July (Literary figures night: Ed Mcbain and Shakespeare)
6:00 pm: High and Low
8:30 pm: The Throne of Blood

Tuesday 10 July (Hero night: Mifune and Shimura)
6:00 pm: Ikiru
8:30 pm: Sanjuro

Wednesday 11 July (Compassion and justice)
6:00 pm: Yojimbo (Age limit: 16 years or older)
8:30 pm: Scandal

Thursday 12 July (Contemporary stories)
6:00 pm: High and Low
8:30 pm: Ikiru

Friday 13 July (Samurai and action films)
5:00 pm: Sanjuro
7:00 pm: Seven Samurai

Saturday 14 July (Samurai and action films)
5:00 pm: Yojimbo (Age limit: 16 years or older)
7:00 pm: The Hidden Fortress

El Horreya Centre for Creative Art in Alexandria:

Tuesday 17 July
5:30 pm: The Hidden Fortress
7: 30: pm Sanjuro

Wednesday 18 July
5:30pm: Seven Samurai

El-Horreya Centre for Creativity is located on 1 El-Horeyya Street, El-Attarin, Alexandria.