The head of the Cairo Film Festival, Mr. Shareif al Shobashi has announced that they are in negotiations with the international movie star Salma Hayek to attend the opening ceremony of the festival next month, the daily Asharq al Awsat newspaper has reported.
"Salma Hayek's nomination will come out with a great benefit to the festival, taking into consideration the Arab origin she holds and the huge success she's making lately," Shobashi has told the London-based newspaper.
Shobashi explained that the festival is facing many problems lately with the lack of funds and the absence of international stars. “We are looking for another sources of fund in addition to what the Ministry of Culture is providing us with,” the head of the festival said, adding that they reached an agreement with movie theatres to screen all movies participating in the festival on scheduled dates.
Talking about the indirect war Israelis are doing to degrade the importance of the festival and kick it out of the "A" category it holds, Shobashi confirmed that the ten-day festival would kick off on its scheduled date, the 15th of October.
Earlier this week, the festival announced that 42 countries including seven Arab states will participate with 150 films in its 26th session. – Albawaba.com
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