Them four

By Samir Farid

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ON 16 MARCH 2007, at the closing of the first Woman Film Festival, Cadre (the Audio- Visual Development Foundation), which organised the event, announced that it would not take place annually as planned. It also announced the cancellation of three other festivals: the third European Union Countries Film Festival on 9 May (Europe's Day), the first Silent Film Festival on 20 June (Egyptian Cinema Day) and the second Film Festival for Intercultural Dialogue from 11 to 21 September (International Peace Day).

The foundation, which came into being on 10 May 2006 and was officially registered on 10 November of the same year, explained that despite the fact that the first session of the Woman Film Festival was successful, screening a total of 69 films from 24 countries from all six continents -- with 70 to 100 per cent attendance at the Creativity Centre in Cairo and the Audiorium of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria -- its financial conditions preclude the possibility of festivals pending the arrival of a sponsor.

The foundation also indicated that organising festivals is but one of the activities stipulated in its official regulations, and that none of the four festivals had been registered in its name. Therefore, Cadre would welcome the initiative of any other party willing to organise comparable events independently or in consultation with it, even if the new organisers consider their sessions the first. It is worth noting that Cadre is a non- profit organisation, both officially and in fact, and that by establishing these events it sought to open up a new path for festivals in Egypt, not necessarily to bolster its own name.

While it was yet under-construction Cadre organised on its own, without any funding from a second party, the first European Union Countries Film Festival in 2005, and in 2006 it co- organised the same event with the Greek Cultural Centre with the support of the European Commission in Egypt. Cadre organised two programmes in the latter event and has published two books -- all self-funded. Similarly, it organised the first Film Festival for Intercultural Dialogue in 2006 with no funding from either Egyptian or foreign entities.

Samir Farid, president of Cadre