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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Romantic interlude
The 24th round of the Cairo International Film Festival begins Tuesday night. Festival head Hussein Fahmy seems to be stepping up his constant attempts to add glamour to Cairo's biggest cultural event. The theme of this year's festival is Romance, and a bevy of romantic films have been chosen for screening during the festival's two-week run. The late Abdel-Halim Hafez, legendary Egyptian star of song and screen, will be honoured during the festivals' gala opening ceremony, along with several prominent international guests. Veteran Italian star Sophia Loren, as glamourous as ever at 66, pioneering Iranian director Abbas Kiorastami, British director and producer Roland Joffée, and last year's jury head, American actor John Malkovich, will also be receiving special awards. Joffée (Killing Fields, Scarlet Letter) is the head of this year's jury, which also includes Kiorastami (A Taste of Cherry), Newsweek film critic David Ansen, Algerian director Ahmed Rashedi, Egyptian director Sherif Arafa, actress Lubna Abdel-Aziz, Abdel-Halim Hafez's co-star in the romantic classic, Al-Wisada Al-Khaliya (The Empty Pillow), and other big names from international cinema.
The festival's opening film is slated to be Dancer in the Dark, the Danish film that picked up this year's Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or. Directed by Lars von Trier, the musical stars Catherine Deneuve and Iceland's Bjork, lead singer of the pop group The Sugarcubes.
Eighteen films are in the festival's official competition, including two Arab entries, first-time director Khaled Youssef's El-Asefa (The Storm) starring Youssra and Hisham Selim, and the Moroccan film Atash (Thirst), starring Saad Shareybi. Two films from Iran and Map of the World from the US are also among the competing films.
The festival itself, a popular event that always has cinemas across town filled to the brim, will be screening 120 films from 44 countries. A profile of Hussein Fahmy, festival coverage and schedules will appear in next week's Al-Ahram Weekly.
Two stills from Dancer in the Dark, and the delectable Loren
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