Luxor African Film Festival gears up for 10th edition
Eslam Omar, , Saturday 6 Mar 2021
Poster revealed for the special edition that will see 'a lot of surprises'


The count down for the 10th edition of the Luxor African Film Festival has been launched on its official website, as it was finally unveiled to be held between 25 and 31 March at the great city, after months of speculations due to COVID-19 circumstances.

Highlighting Luxor’s position as the center of arts in Africa, the special edition's poster, designed by Mahmoud Ismail, has been unveiled on Friday, featuring a young African sailing on a boat in the Nile heading to the longtime iconic capital of the ancient Egyptian civilisation.

"Amid celebrations of the 10th edition, a lot of surprises are being prepared," the festival's executive director Azza El-Husseiny said to Ahram Online, as she spoke about the anticipated event that is to host Sudan as the guest of honour.

Under the honorary chairmanship of Egyptian star Mahmoud Hemeida, the Higher Committee, headed by founding president scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, will include producer Gabi Khoury as chairman.

Members of the committee will include writer Youssef El-Qaid, director Magdy Ahmed Ali, Amani El-Tawil, Major General Tarek Allam, writer Medhat El-Adl, Ambassador Ezzat Saad, tourism expert Muhammad Othman, and actors Layla Elwy, Sabri Fawaz and Salwa Muhammad Ali.

The selection committee also combined director Emad El-Bahat, critic Osama Abdel-Fattah, critic Farouq Abdel-Khaleq, critic Marwa Abu Eish, and scriptwriter Sayed Fouad.

Held by the Independent Artists Youth Foundation, the 10th edition of the LAFF is supported by the ministries of culture, tourism, youth and sports as well as foreign affairs, in addition to Luxor Governorate, the Filmmakers’ Syndicate, as well as the sponsorship of the National Bank and the Tourism Promotion Authority.

The ninth edition, which opened at Luxor Temple with dozens of Arab, African and international artists, filmmakers and critics attending, was forced to cancel public activities midway due to Egypt's coronavirus pandemic's lockdown.

Egypt resumed public cultural activities in July with all public events held under strict measures that include social-distancing, obligatory face masks and hand sanitising under the measures of the health ministry following the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Egypt detected 579 new coronavirus cases on Friday to report the total number of infections since the outbreak last year to 185,334.

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