The CIFET, one of the oldest Egyptian festivals, is managed by Sameh Mahran, the festival's president; Mohamed El-Shafie, a general coordinator; and Dina Amin, the festival's director.
Added to those are members of the Higher Committee: Ahmed Megahed, Asmaa Yehia El-Taher Abdallah, artist Ayman El-Shewy, director Ahmed El-Bohy, and Mohamed Samir El-Khatib.
During the press conference held on Sunday, 24 August, Mahran stressed the continuation of the festival despite the challenges.
"The most important thing for me is that the festival continues. The main goal is that Egypt does not disappear from the scene. We must be present even in the toughest circumstances, and we must succeed — succeed according to our conditions — so that the festival can regain its brilliance, just as it did artistically in its first three editions," Mahran said.
Festival’s opening
The festival’s 32nd edition will open with a grand ceremony at the Cairo Opera House’s main stage.
The evening will include staging of The Triumph of Horus, an ancient Egyptian sacred drama often described as one of the earliest, if not the oldest, ceremonial dramatic texts known to humanity.
The text, inscribed during the Ptolemaic era (237–57 BC) on the walls of the Edfu Temple, was described by researchers as an exceptional theatrical document that depicts the mythical struggle between the god Horus (god of the sky) and his uncle Set (god of chaos) for the throne of Egypt after the murder of Osiris.
It was translated into English in the early 20th century by British Egyptologist Herbert Walter Fairman (1907 – 1982) and was later translated into Arabic by researcher Adel Salama. This affirms that Pharaonic Egypt was at the forefront of human theatrical civilization.
The performance’s dramaturgy is handled by Mohamed Samir El-Khatib, professor of drama and criticism at the Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University.
The play will be performed by the Modern Dance Theatre Company, alongside guest of honour artist Manal Mohieddin (harp) and actor Taha Khalifa as the archaeologist.
The play is directed and choreographed by Walid Aouni, the Cairo-based Lebanese choreographer honoured at 2024’s edition for more than three decades of work in Egypt’s modern dance and theatre scene.
Honourees
This year, the festival will honour 11 prominent theatrical figures from Egypt, the Arab world, and the international scene.
The names from Egypt include actor Sabry Fawaz, actress Hanan Youssef, professor Hassan Khalil, and writer Bahig Ismail.
Among international honourees are director Taku Victor (Cameroon), writer and theatre producer Hamad Al-Rumaihi (Qatar), artist Rafik Ali Ahmad (Lebanon), artist Mohammad Al-Mansour (Kuwait), critic Patrick Pavis (France), and director Sir Rufus Norris (UK).
The Jury
This year's jury includes several renouned names from Arab and international theatre scene: head of Dramaturgy and National Theatre of Greece Irene Moundraki (Greece); directors Ahmed El-Attar and Nasser Abdel-Moneim (Egypt); writer and director Adham Sayed (Egypt); artist and head of the Iraqi Artists Syndicate Jabbar Judi (Iraq); poet and playwright Sami Aljam'aan (Saudi Arabia); director and writer Salvatore Bitonti (Italy); and artist and director of Venice Festival Andrea Porcheddu.
CIFET’s programming
The festival will present almost 20 plays in its official competition, including works from Egypt, the Arab world, and the international scene.
Nearly 200 Egyptian theatre productions were submitted, with two being selected for participation in the official competition: Ashes, produced by the Forsan Al-Sharq (Knights of the East) troupe, and Crime and Punishment, produced by the Nihad Selaiha Theatre.
One performance was selected to be presented on the sidelines: Do You See Me Now?, directed by Lobna El-Mansi and produced by the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts.
The selection committee for Egyptian plays included a distinguished group of theatre makers, including academics Amira El-Wakeel, Amr El-Ashraf, and Abeer Fawzy; critic Ahmed Khamees; playwright Basem Sadek; director Hany Afifi; writer Rasha Abdel-Moneim; director Ahmed Taha; and Rajwa Hamed.
Productions from other Arab countries will feature troupes from Tunisia, Iraq, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
The plays include Nine O'Clock (Qatar), Hot Coffee (Bahrain), and The Lantern (UAE).
International entries include performances such as An Encounter of Cultures (USA, Zimbabwe, and Colombia), Hamlet Machine (Armenia), The Space is Us (Greece), Moments of Awareness (Romania), #Not! (Romania), and Coppelia Mechanical Ballet (Italy).
Seminars and Giving Back
Workshops and seminars will kick off on 2 September.
The series of seminars will take place on 2, 3, and 4 September and will include two sessions on Theatre and Artificial Intelligence, moderated by Hisham Zain El-Din (Lebanon) and Khalid Amine (Morocco), respectively.
They will also include two sessions about Contemporary Theatrical Experiences with moderators Hatem Rabie (Egypt) and Asmaa Yehia El-Taher Abdallah (Egypt), respectively.
There will be a session on Theatre and Sustainable Development by Dina Amin (Egypt) and another on Theatre and Post-Theories by Khaled Al-Ruwaie (Bahrain), among other seminars, all including numerous renowned Egyptian and international speakers.
The Giving Back segment will include three seminars, held on 5 and 6 September, each focusing on one renowned figure of the Arab theatre.
It will first honour late Iraqi director and playwright Sami Abdul-Hamid (1928-2019) with a session moderated by Adel Harbi (Sudan).
Then, it will feature speakers from Iraq: Maimoun Al-Khalidi, Abdul Karim Aboud, and Bashar Alawi.
The second seminar will shed light on the late Moroccan director and playwright Hassan El-Mniai (1941-2020). The session will include artists from Morocco: moderator Youssef Amfzaa, and speakers Khalid Amine, Said Karimi, and Hassan El-Nefali.
The third person featured in the Giving Back segment is late Egyptian director, actor, and translator Hanaa Abdel-Fattah (1944-2012). This seminar will include Egyptian academics, including moderator Engy El-Bastawy, and speakers Medhat El-Kashef, Abeer Fawzy, and Hanady Abdel-Khalek.
During the press conference, Amina Metwaly-Gabr presented a book she created about her grandfather, Hanaa Abdel-Fattah.
The book is part of her graduation project from the German University in Cairo’s Applied Arts (Graphic Design) Department. The book will also be presented during the seminar dedicated to Abdel-Fattah.
How to attend
The festival's activities are free of charge, including seminars and workshops.
Participants can download the festival's application from either the Google Play or the App Store.
The application will guide the audience through the programming for each day of the festival.
The festival’s poster
The festival’s poster was designed by Mostafa Awad, inspired by the statue of Horus, a symbol of protection and power in ancient Egyptian civilization.
Awad explained that the inclusion of a theatre backdrop in the design reflects the identity of the festival itself as an open space for experimentation, innovation, and the exchange of experiences among theatres from around the world.
The artist confirmed the use of AI tools in his work, pointing out that he was among the first to use this technology in designing official posters for art festivals.
He views AI as a supportive tool, ultimately used to realize a concept born from his imagination as an artist.
CIFET
Launched in 1988 by then-culture minister Farouk Hosny, CIFET has long been one of Egypt’s most significant cultural events. The festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture, was designed to place Cairo on the international theatre map.
For its first two decades, the festival had run over 10 days each September, attracting dozens of Arab and international troupes for awards. At its peak in the late 2000s, CIFET was hosting 40-50 performances across multiple venues in Cairo and beyond.
The event was suspended for five years after the January 2011 revolution, before returning in 2016 under Sameh Mahran as its president.
Renamed the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET), it adopted a smaller programme and a shorter run and dropped its competitive format.
In 2020, during its 27th edition, the festival reverted to its original name and reinstated competition under the late theatre academic and playwright Alaa Abdel-Aziz.
Mahran returned as CIFET president in 2023.
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