The 28th Cairo International Film Festival awards

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LAST FRIDAY the 28th Cairo International Film Festival concluded its events in a festive ceremony as Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, festival director Cherif El-Shoubashi and festival jury president Italian producer Carlo Fuscagni handed awards to the winning artists. The Italian film Guardiani delle nuvole (Guardians of the Clouds, 2002) (top) directed by Luciano Odorisio won the festival's Golden Pyramid Award (Best Film); the Russian director Stanislav Govorukhin won the Silver Pyramid (Jury Award) for Bless the Woman (2003) ; while the Ministry of Culture's LE100,000 presented to the best Arab film went to Egypt's Al-Bahithat 'an Al-Huriya (The Searchers for Freedom, 2004) directed by Inas El-Deghidi. The Hungarian Eszter Bagameri and the Egyptian Nelli Karim shared this year's Best Actress Award for their parts in Guarded Secrets (2004) and Inta Omri (My Soulmate, 2004), respectively. Similarly, Sophocles Peppas, the lead actor in the Greek production Dust (2004), and Adrian Navarro, the lead actor in the Argentinean film Ay Juancito (2003) , shared the Best Actor Award. Hector Olivera won Best Director also for Ay Juancito. Moroccan Jilali Frahani won Best Script for Zakira Mutaqala (Memory in Detention, 2004), while director Safi Nibu won Best First Feature for the Belgium-French film Le Cou de la girafe (The Giraffe's Neck, 2004), whose child star Louisa Pili also won an honourary certificate, as did Mahish Datani, director of the Indian film Morning Raga (2004).