Latest in Cinema Highlight
Latest in Cinema
Remembering prominent Czech director Milos Forman
Oscar-winning Czech-born film director Milos Forman, known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus, died early this week, aged 86. Born in the Czech town of Caslav in 1932, Forman moved to the US after the communist government’s crackdown on the 1968 uprising known as the Prague Spring took place and he was eventually …
Irish Film Festival gears up for 4th edition
This year’s festival kicks off in Penrith on Wednesday 18 April
Ismailia International Film Festival prepares for 20th edition
Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Short Films is due to be held from 11-17 April, with a selection of films from around the world. Essam Zakaria, the festival’s president, said that a new programme will be introduced, in which a number of documentaries, shorts, and animation films that won prizes during the festival’s …
Cannes jury council close to completion
Latest appointment saw Ursula Meier heading Caméra d’Or jury
Sarah Francis’ Dead Dog wins CineGouna award at Beirut Cinema Platform
CineGouna Platform presented award to Dead Dog by Sarah Francis at Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP). The award will guarantee the film’s automatic selection as part of CineGouna Springboard. “El Gouna Film Festival aims to support Arab filmmakers and Arab cinema through the CineGouna platform; therefore, we are excited to be supporting Beirut Cinema Platform through …
Experts, artists, academics at Luxor African Film Festival assert culture’s importance to development
Cultural development should get same attention as militaries, economies in Africa, says festival president Sayed Fouad
Remembering Samir Farid at the Luxor African Film Festival
New book discusses humane relations between late film critic, younger generation of writers, cinema enthusiasts
African documentaries become main focus of Luxor film festival
Opening featured documentary profiling Liberian anti-corruption activist
Gender inequality in film
Women are still at a disadvantage in the film industry, underrepresented in key creative positions, according to several equality-focused rights group, whose discourse has been coming back to the surface in recent years. Along with sexual harassment in the film industry, there is a huge gap in female representation in the media. The New York …
Luxor African Film Festival kicks off with marathon of distinguished screenings from the continent
Inauguration ceremony witnessed honouring of prominent director Youssef Chahine
Victims & Heroes of Egyptian Cinema (5): Hala Khalil’s Nawwara (2015)
In Hala Khalil’s film that is written by Mourad Mustafa and produced in 2015, “Nawwara” starred by Mennah Shalaby should be asked one question, why have not you steal this villa earlier in the film? Nawwara is depicted as a ‘moral good’ girl. She is living in an extremely poor and marginalized slum area, waiting …
11th Cairo International Women’s Film Festival’s kicks off
The 11th edition of the Cairo International Women’s Film Festival kicked off on Saturday with screenings extending until 9 March. The festival will screen 54 films from 34 different countries including feature, documentary, and animated films. On Saturday, the festival opened with the Algerian film Until the End of Time, with the attendance of its …
Luxor African Film Festival: Cinema for a better tomorrow
The Luxor African Film Festival is an annual celebration of films, art, and criticism, while keeping a close eye on African cinema and its different contemporary issues. The festival has been building up momentum to reach out to different artists and filmmakers from the African continent, to bridge the gap between Arabic-speaking African countries and …
Luxor African Film Festival to kick off 16 March
The Luxor African Film Festival held a press conference on Sunday announcing its full programme and schedule for its seventh edition, due to begin on 16 March. The festival is organised by the Independent Shabab Foundation (ISF), which was founded in 2006 and aims at developing capable film artists across Egypt. According to the festival’s …
Renowned Egyptian critic Ali Abu Shadi dies at 72
The late film intellectual was supposed to be honoured at the coming Ismailia Film Festival
Late filmmaker Youssef Chahine’s 92nd birthday
Chahine, who was not only a revolutionary filmmaker, but also a cultural visionary and a true renegade in the film industry, died 10 years ago
Standing ovation for The Reports on Sarah and Saleem at IFFR
Directed by Muayad Alayan, film portrays true story about affair between Jewish woman, Arab man in occupied Palestine
Young Karl Marx resurrected
The year 2017 witnessed several well-made films, from the perspective of international film critics. Nevertheless, the unique experience of Haitian director Raoul Peck deserves a special reception and a thorough analysis. In the film, he showed, with exquisite craftsmanship and cinematic techniques, the sincerity and love which he made his well-received film with. The Young …
Egyptian film Poisonous Roses to screen at Rotterdam Film Festival
Film is written, directed by Ahmed Fawzi Saleh
Victims & Heroes of Egyptian Cinema (4): Sherif Arafa’s Terrorism & Kebab (1992)
As previously mentioned at the end of last week’s article, I will begin to trace how Egyptian cinema has talked about spaces where narratives of victimisation are produced and contested. Here, I would like to ask two main questions: what are the features of the space in which “victims” are situated? And how can the …
Shadi Abdel Salam’s masterpiece Al-Mumiaa to screen at Rotterdam Film Festival
Screened version is restored copy by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project
Highlights of Sundance Film Festival lineup
Sundance Film Festival has kick-started the global string of film festivals. Showcasing independent films, this year, it features eight German co-productions, as well as movies directed by stars Ethan Hawke and Idris Elba. Sundance Film Festival in Utah, held this year from January 18 to January 28, is renowned for offering a platform for “bold, …
Victims & Heroes of Egyptian Cinema (3): Atef El-Taieb’s Love on the Pyramids Plateau (1986)
In the previous two articles of this series, I highlighted how the representation of the victim figure is made possible either by the formation or the deformation of a relationship with the victimised person. I discussed how the invisibility of the victim is broken amid a fundamental change that occurs in the nature of human …
India ditches compulsory national anthem at cinema
India’s compulsory playing of its national anthem before cinema screenings has been dashed by the Supreme Court. It has, however, stipulated that audiences will stand briefly when movie halls drop the patriotic tune. Indian media reported widespread relief last week over the removal of assertive nationalism in cinemas imposed in 2016 under the Hindu right-wing …
Rotterdam masterclasses announced, Taxi Driver’s Paul Schrader to give talk
The International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018 will present insightful and urgent talks and masterclasses by prominent names from the world of international cinema. Many of the events will be held as part of the IFFR’s Talks. In the masterclasses, three cinematic heavyweights will share their wisdom concerning the art of film. Artistic polymath Alfredo Jaar, …
39 Egyptian films produced in 2017
Egyptian cinema industry witnessed a very successful year in 2017, with 39 films produced, compared to 26 films in 2016, which makes 2017 the highest film production record since 2011 revolution. The films achieved a total revenue of EGP 237m. The highest film yields went for Ahmed Ezz’s “El Khaleya” which means the cell, with …
Victims & Heroes of Egyptian Cinema (2): Samir Seif’s Ma’ali El-Wazeer “His Excellency the Minister” (2003)
Two weeks ago, I wrote about an intimate human relationship coincidently formed between a hero who is imperfect and a victim who is misrepresented and unrepresented in Atef El-Tayeb’s Against the Government (1992). As a follow-up in this week’s article, I would like to refer to another film that holds an unstable relation between a …
Ridley Scott’s cult films
British director Ridley Scott is a master of Hollywood cinema. His latest movie All the Money in the World is now coming to the cinemas. Here are some of his masterpieces. Recast: All the Money in the World After American actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of abusing him three decades ago, and a number …
Photocopy: the taste of a life lived!
Through a wonderful mix of videography, local history, and music, Photocopy director Tamer Ashry takes us on a wonderful journey in time. The film is imbued with Faried el-Atrash songs and scenes of the culturally rich and relatively old Abdo Pasha area of Cairo, with its old-fashioned “gad3ana”—the remains of a good trait in Egyptians …
Victims & Heroes of Egyptian Cinema: Atef El-Tayeb’s Against the Government (Dud al-Hakuma, 1992)
Our hero is imperfect. He is not one of those idols whose footsteps we will be advised to follow in our everyday lives. In cultural terms, he is unclean. He does not look after the shape of his hair and beard. He shows us, and has once said, that he does not like to shave …