In its eighth round (10-12 February), the Alexandria Short Film Festival (ASFF) is taking a new, progressive step by introducing its first international competition. The eight-year-old event started in a small hall at the Alexandria Atelier as the initiative of a group of young filmmaking enthusiasts. First funded by their own contributions but eventually coming under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and other partners.

Since its launch in 2015, though hugely popular among a young and social media-savvy audience, the festival has struggled with finding an appropriate venue, moving from one cultural centre to another, but finally able to cooperate with the private sector this year it has moved to the properly equipped Cinema Metro, one of the most prestigious in the city.

According to ASFF president Mohamed Mahmoud, while the festival develops its reputation across the Arab world, “Our goal is to give our audience in Alexandria the opportunity to see a wide range of films that are diverse in content and style, so moving past the borders of the Arab world to the world at large was a crucial step taken at the right time.”

It wasn’t an easy decision, Mahmoud explains. The budget did not make it possible to employ regional curators as an international festival normally might, and so ASFF resorted to online platforms that connect filmmakers with festivals: “We relied on Film Freeway and FESTHOME, which are well known among filmmakers all over the world. It was wonderful. For a nominal subscription these platforms allow hundreds of filmmakers  to submit their films to appropriate festivals. The majority of films are of high quality, and there is richness and diversity in terms of content and style.”

According to ASFF artistic director Mony Mahmoud, out of some 1500 submissions from 60 countries, 56 from 31 were selected in five competitions including three new international ones (narrative, documentary and animation), the other two being the existing Arab Narrative Film and Student Film competitions, the latter launched in the fourth round.

With four world premiers – Last Day by Egyptian director Ahmed Dahroug, Halal Kiss by Egyptian director Selim Eladawy, Tiger by Hungarian director Péter Hajmási and Salwa by Tunisian director Ines Ibn Othman – the International Feature Film Competition included 16 films.

The International Documentary Film Competition included 10, one of which – the Russian filmmaker Vladimir Eysner’s After the Deluge by Vladimir Eysner – had its world premiere at the festival.

The International Animation Film Competition included 12 films and four world premieres: Just a Bear by Egyptian director Mayar Mohammed Hassan and The Pillar of Strength by Malaysian director Ayie Ibrahim as well as two films from Jordan, Azrar by Ahmed Jaber and Alternative Memory by Leen Abdo.

As for the Arab Film Competition, out of nine films there were four world premieres: Estabena by Egyptian director Mohamed Baatar, The Monster by Emirati director Abdulrahman Al Madani, Paradis by Lebanese director Chris Charles Akoury, and the Syrian-Canadian production Their Truth by Marcelle Aleid.

The Student Film Competition included eight films hailing from various institutions and workshops.

The Egyptian Critics Association’s jury award went to the American film Feeling Through, directed by Doug Roland, in the International Feature Film Competition.

The student film winners were as follows: Third Eye by Dina Yasser Reffaie from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo, which won the Golden Hypatia Award for Best Film; Horn by Maya Sebahi from Badr University, which won the Silver Hypatia Special Jury Award.

Heba Abdel Ghani for her role in Ferial’s Coffee by Mohanad El-Kashef from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo, Aya Ashraf Elmorsy for her film I Love You, I Hate You, produced by the the Between Women Filmmakers Caravan Creative Documentary Workshop, Adham Medhat’s Fallacy from the College of Language and Communication (CLC) and Moataz Alnaggar’s Sex Doll from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo won special mentions.

In the Arab Film Competition, the Golden Hypatia Award for Best Film went to the Their Truth by Marcelle Aleid. The Silver Hypatia Special Jury Award was divided equally between Tunisian film Korrinty by Aziz Chennaoui and the Syrian film Sarah by Alaa Abo Farrag for actor Suhair Saleh’s performance. In

In the International Animation Film Competition, the Golden Hypatia went to the Pakistani film Swipe by Arafat Mazhar, the Silver Hypatia to Depths of Night by Step C from Hong Kong, and the Algerian film Bridge by Boukef Shawki won a special mention.

In the International Documentary Competition, the Golden Hypatiawent to the Kuwaiti film An Evening with Laila by Haya Alghanim, and the Silver Hypatia to the Portuguese film Talia by Pedro Cruz.

In the International Feature Film Competition, the Russian film Coo-Coo by Svetlana Belorussova won the Golden Hypatia while the Italian film A New Perspective by Emanuela Ponzano won the Silver Hypatia. The jury special mention went to the Egyptian film Halal Kss by Selim Eladawy, and the American film Feeling Through by Doug Roland.

This year, the festival honoured two film figures. One was the well-known Egyptian musician Khaled Hammad, who has made many iconic scores, including the films Laughter, Joy, Work and Love (1993) by Tarek El Tilmisany, Cultural Film (2000) by Mohamed Amin, and Sameer, Shaheer & Baheer (2010) by Moataz El Tony and the television series Season of Flowers (2000) by Samir Seif and His Excellency (2014) by Ramy Imam.

The second honouree was Tunisian film and stage actor Fatima Ben Saïdane, whose outstanding career features many short film appearances. In addition to nine radio and television series, she has participated in 13 plays in Tunis, Paris and Milan as well as 47 films in France, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt as well as Tunisia. Her best-known appearances include El Halfaouine (1990) by Farid Boughedir and The Silence of the Palaces (1994) by Moufida Tlatli.

Mahmoud says this year’s honorees reflect the festival’s commitment to recognising artists who have made an impact across generations, and whose contributions continue to inspire emerging artists and audiences.

In addition to screenings, ASFF included two filmmaking workshops dedicated to emerging filmmakers and film lovers in Alexandria: a workshop on the basics of film directing by director Khaled El-Hagar, and a documentary filmmaking workshop by Mohannad Diab.

The festival also hosted a seminar entitled “Institutions Supporting Artists” in cooperation with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan with the participation of writer and director Abd al-Salam al-Haj, the head of Capacity Building at the Royal Commission. The seminar highlighted the Royal Film Commission’s activities and role in the film and television sector, and its strategy for supporting emerging artists.

The Alexandria Short Film Festival is an annual event founded and organised by the Art Circle Association as an independent initiative in 2015. Since its fourth round, it has received support from the Ministry of Culture, the Tourism Promotion Authority and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 24 February, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.