Egypt: 44th Cairo International Film Festival opens

Egyptian and Arab stars hit the red carpet at the opening of the 44th Cairo International Film Festival which kicked off Sunday (13 NOV 2022) night at Egypt's famous Opera House.

Dozens of Egyptian and Arab celebrities attended the annual event -- one of the most renowned in the Arab world.

“There is a war going on in Europe and there is very high tension in East Asia with very difficult economic conditions, all of this represents a very big challenge for us. We also have the COP27 that is still going on, and at the end of the festival there is the World Cup. Thank God we are struggling to stay afloat" Hussein Fahmy, Festival President said.

The festival celebrates what legendary Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr described during the opening as “universal language of cinema.” Tarr received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

“The industry all over the Arabic world is still struggling, but Egypt is an exception, as Tunisia also is an exception because there is some countries who have more films than others, so it is also our role to raise the voices of all these countries, the maximum we can do.“ says Lynda Belkhiria, Head of Cairo Film Connection.

The event will include 97 films from more than 52 countries. The president of this year's international jury is Japanese director Naomi Kawase.

The 44th edition will run for ten days until November 22nd.