The Alexandria Film Festival opened on Wednesday evening (September 2) under the slogan “Cinema in the Face of Terrorism.”
Culture Minister Abdel Wahid al-Nabawi and film critic Amir Abaza did the honors of opening the 31st edition of the prestigious fest at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which this year was dedicated to film star Mahmoud Yassin.
The beautiful-sounding operetta “120 Years of Cinema” filled the Bibliotheca's hall last night when it played during the opening ceremony.
This year, 300 films from 33 different countries will be screened at the fest, reported the Egypt Independent.
As per usual, the ceremony introduced this year's judges, as well as giving away the prize for the Mamdouh al-Leithy contest for best script.
Meanwhile, Egyptian, Arab and European artists will be honored during the festival, including actress Sawsan Badr, director Mohamed Abdel Aziz, producer Farouk Sabry, Colombian actor Lou Castel, Russian director Shakhnazarov, French script writer Philip Jalad, Algerian critic Ahmed Bedjaoui and Moroccan director Mohamed Al-Sarem.
Fifteen Arabic feature films will be competing for the Nour El-Sherif prize worth $6,000.
Other screenings include 11 long documentaries from 10 Arab countries, 23 short documentaries from 17 countries, 24 short films from 17 countries and 20 films by young directors from Alexandria.
