The Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries 02-06.10 announcing the highlights

Leyla Elwi

 

Al-Amir Abaza, the president of the festival, is announcing that the upcoming edition will be dedicated to the great Egyptian actress Leyla Elwi.

 

Al-Amir Abaza

 

Al-Amir Abaza is a writer, cinematic critic, poet, journalist and the president of the "Egyptian Association For Film Writers And Critics". He is also the founder of the "House Of Cinema Association" and the vice president of the “Akhbar Al Masaa” newspaper. He has produced the long narrative film (Camp) in 2008. He is a member of the "Egyptian Film Critics Association" and the "Board of Directors of the Union of Egyptian Writers" since 2013.

 

Ghada Chahine

 

Popular television host Ghada Chahine, the artistic director of the festival, has meanwhile annnounced that the festival will also pay tribute to the Spanish star, actress Mercedes Ortega. Mercedes Ortega was born on January 16, 1970 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. She is an actress and producer, mostly known for Cautivadas (2013).

 

The festival will also pay tribute at the upcoming festival edition to the French director Jean-Pierre Améris, as well as the Egyptian celebrity Sherine, the Egyptian DOP Sameh Selim, the Egyptian director Hany Lachin, the Egyptian superstar Ahmad Rizq and the great Egyptian actress Fardos Abdelhamid. 

Further two filmmakers and one actor from the Middle East will be awarded at the upcoming edition.

 

The festival will pay tribute to the achievemens of the great Moroccan director Hakim Belabas and the well known Tunisian director Reda Bahy. 

 

Furthermore it will also award the Mediterranean Medal to the great Moroccan actor Mohamed Mofetah.

 

Marianne Borgo, Ghada Chahine and myself at the last year edition

 

And last but not least French actress Marianne Borgo will be back to the festival giving acting masterclasses alongside French producer Patrick Jorge, who will head the jury of the short film competicion. While this will be for writer/festival director Jorge the second paricipation, it is Borgo's third time attending the film festival after beeing last year the president of the short film competition and receiving the lifetime achievement award in Alexandria in 2022. 

 

This 41st edition, taking place from October 2 to October 3, will feature seven competitions.

The Mediterranean Feature Film Competition

The Mediterranean Short Film Competition

The Screenplay Competition

The Young Egyptian Competition

The Egyptian Film Competition

The Arab Film Competition.

 

Furthermore the organizers are announcing workshops given by two great Egyptian directors: Mohamed Abdelaziz and Aly Badrakhane.

Also experienced Egyptian DOP Samir Farag will offer a workshop on cinemathography. He worked on more than 20 documentaries and shorts in addition to around a hundred of feature films like "The Day of Dignity", "Anbar and the Colors" or "A Letter to the Governor". 

 

Also London based Cypriote writer/director/producer Michael Hapeshis will return to Alexandria as a jury member of the Mediterannean Feature Film Competition after his own film "The asylum seekers" was part of international film competition last year.

 

Dr. Michael Georges will give a masterclass on cinema in the age of AI, this is by the way slso also the motto of the festival this year. 

 

The city of Alexandria, the venue and the name donor of the the festival, is a charming Mediterranean port city in Egypt, which during the Hellenistic period was home to a lighthouse ranking among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as well as a storied library. Today the library is reincarnated in the disc-shaped, ultramodern Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The Biblioteca Alexandrina was during the past festival editions also the venue for the glamourous opening ceremony. The city of Alexandria has also Greco-Roman landmarks, old-world cafes and sandy beaches. Its 15th-century seafront Qaitbay Citadel is now a museum, aswell as the Montaza Palace, the home of King Faruk, the last Egyptian emperorlast is now a museum. A wonderful peaceful gated areal in this with the extensive Montazah gardens, the beautiful Montazah Water Sports Club for the venue of conferences in the Montaza district of Alexandria, Egypt. It was built on a low plateau east of central Alexandria overlooking a beach on the Mediterranean Sea while the Montaza gardens, the royal gardens of King Faruk, the last Egyptian monarch.

 

The 41 edition of the Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries will be most likely one of the major events of the city attracting locals aswell as cinephiles from abroad, promoting the city on an international level. No wonder that both, the Ministry of Tourism aswell as the Ministry of Culture are involved in this mega event. The main sponsor is the Ministry of Culture, and therefore the Minister of Culture Dr. Ahmad Hano will innaugurate the festival and will be present at the opening ceremony on October 2.

To be continued! See you in Alexandria!