Under the helm of the festival director and founder Osama Raouf, the fifth edition of the Cairo International Days for Monodrama Festival (12-16 September) saw the participation of 14 countries; Egypt, Romania, USA, Kosovo, Germany, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Morocco.

The Case D’ARC is directed by Maja Delinić and stars Philipp Sommer, who co-wrote the script.

According to the show description, the hero in the monodrama becomes fascinated at the age of 13 by the enigmatic heroine Joan of Arc in Luc Besson's movie The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. Two decades older, the hero tries to solve the mystery by putting himself in the heroine place.

The Case D'ARC, which was commissioned by Theater Krefeld und Mönchengladbach, saw its world premiere in December 2021.

Meanwhile, Kosovon director Mentor Zymberaj won Best Director Award for The Dreams of Hamlet.

Saudi Badr Alghamdi won Best Actor Award for Saken Motaharek while Iraqi Iman Abdel-Hassan won Best Actress Award for Azhaar.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Cuture, the festival’s closing ceremony was held at Al-Hanager Theatre.

It featured speeches from the organisers, honouring and awards ceremonies, as well as a performance by the Egyptian band Accordionella.

The fifth edition was dedicated to the late Egyptian actor Khaled Saleh (1964-2014).

It also honoured the late Egyptian actor Mahmoud El-Alfy, Omani actress Samaa Mohamed, Egyptian director Khaled Galal, Egyptian actress Lekaa Elkhamissi and German director Matthias Gehrt.