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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Development Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Festival profile
Profile compiled by Mohamed El-Assyouti
-- The Alexandria Film Festival is organised by the Film Writers and Critics Society. The 16th round (13-19 September) was headed by Al-Ahram critic Mohamed Saleh.
-- The honourees at this year's festival were: late writer and critic Kamal El-Mallakh, the festival's founder; late actor Hussein Riad, on the occasion of the centenary of his birth; scriptwriter Mahmoud Abu Zeid; director Ashraf Fahmi; actor Adel Imam and actress Youssra, who also headed the jury for the international competition of the festival.
-- Other jury members comprised Thierry Lenouvel, head of the Amiens Festival; Andrea Bauer, head of the Tubingen Festival; Raslan Abu Shaqra, and veteran critic Ahmed El-Hadari. Moroccan director Abdel-Qader Laqta' was prevented from joining the jury for personal reasons.
-- The principal competition, in which a total of 14 films participated, was divided into two sub-sections, the first restricted to debut features.
-- Egypt participated in the first section with Al-Ashiqan (The Lovers), starring and directed by Nour El-Sherif; Syria showed Al-Rissala Al-Akhira (The Last Message) by Basil Al-Khatib; Morocco Qissat Warda (A Flower's Tale); Chad Bye Bye Africa; Yugoslavia Shades of Memories and Denmark The Man Who Lived Forever.
-- In the second, general category, the participants were: Egypt with Al-Abwab Al-Mughlaqa (Locked Doors) by Atef Hatata and Omar 2000 by Ahmed Atef; Syria with Al-Murabi (The Usurer) by Mohamed Shahin; Morocco with Ali, Rabiaa Wal-Akharoun (Ali, Rabiaa and the others); Turkey with Clouds of May; Greece with Flower of the Lake; Italy and Switzerland with Who's Afraid of the Wolf and Germany with Tuvalou.
-- The awards of the principal competition went to: Al-Abwab Al-Mughlaqa for best film, screenplay, director, actress (Sawsan Badr) and supporting actress (Manal Afifi); Omar 2000 for best cinematography (Said Shimi); Ali, Rabiaa Wal Akharoun for best supporting actor (Hassan Fayed); Bye Bye Africa as best debut film; Clouds of May for best actor (Amin Silan) and best editing. Also, a Special Jury Award went to Clouds of May, while Tuvalou received an honourary certificate.
-- The Panorama of Egyptian Cinema also distributes discretionary prizes up to the value of LE100,000. Entries comprised: Ahmed Yehia's Rihla Mashbouha (Shameful Trip), Karim Diaaeddin's Al-Ukhtobut (Octopus), Hassan El-Seifi's Shuru' Fi Qatl (Attempted Manslaughter), Youssef Francis's Habibati Man Takoun (My Beloved, Who Might She Be?), Mohamed El-Qalyoubi's Itfarag Ya Salam (Peep Show), Nadia Hamza's Wi Hayat Qalbi Wa Afrahu (By My Heart and Its Joys) and Adel El-A'sar's Nihibb Eishit Al-Hurriya (We Love the Life of Freedom).
-- The Panorama's jury was headed by Samiha Ayyoub, the actress and widow of the writer and late head of the International Cairo Film Festival Saadeddin Wahba, and included cinematographer Mohssen Ahmed, director Said Marzouq, editor Hassan Afifi, writer Louis Greis, production designer Mohamed Azab, and scriptwriter Sabri Moussa.
-- Screenings in the special section devoted to Lebanese cinema included Ila Ain (Whereto? --1957) by George Nasr, Beirut Beirut (1975) by Maroun Baghdadi, Al-Malgaa (The Orphanage -- 1981) by Rafiq Haggar, Beirut Al-Gharbiya (West Beirut -- 1998) by Ziyad Duwairi and Beit Al-Zahr (Dice House) by Joanna Heggi Thomas and Khalil Greg.
-- Mohamed Amin's debut Film Thaqafi (Cultural Film) -- about the adventures of a group of young men trying to watch a porno on video -- mysteriously disappeared from the Egyptian Panorama section though it had been included in the early publicity.
-- The opening ceremony, which like the closing one is organised by the Cultural Development Fund, included a modern dance directed by Mohamed Shafiq. Highlights of the closing ceremony include the honouring of Adel Imam, who last year refused a similar celebration at the Cairo Film Festival.
-- Other awards presented by the festival include: the Mahmoud Hemeida Penguin Film Award (LE30,000); the Samira Ahmed Award (LE10,000) and the Francophone Organisation's Award for best African Director (20,000 francs).
The festival's web-site is www.alexandriafilmfestival.com
