The 44th Cairo Film Festival came to a close yesterday, after a vibrant fortnight that saw cinema from the region showcased alongside highlights from this year’s international festival scene, while well-attended public screenings and events dovetailed with its specialised industry strands, Cairo Industry Days and Cairo Film Connection. It was also the first year with its new festival director, Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses, at the helm, who was previously the artistic director of the El Gouna Film Festival, which has currently paused its activities. Landing Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans for its MENA premiere on the opening night was a notable coup, whilst the festival was also able to give prime placements to prominent Arab filmmakers with work this year, such as Sally El Hosaini, for her Toronto opener The Swimmers [+leggi anche:
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The International Competition jury, headed by jury president Naomi Kawase, awarded the Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film to Firas Khoury’s Alam [+leggi anche:
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In the Horizons of New Arab Cinema Competition, the Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Film went to Carlos Chahine’s Mother Valley [+leggi anche:
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There was also room for two notable critics’ prizes, as Jerzy Skolimowski’s feted EO [+leggi anche:
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The full list of award winners is as follows:

International Competition

Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film
Alam [+leggi anche:
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Silver Pyramid, Special Jury Award, for Best Director
Emmanuelle Nicot – Love According to Dalva [+leggi anche:
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Bronze Pyramid Award for Best First/Second Work
Bread and Salt [+leggi anche:
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Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay
A Man - Kei Ishikawa (Japan)

Best Actor Award
Maher Elkheir - The Dam [+leggi anche:
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Mahmoud Bakri - Alam

Best Actress Award
Zelda Samson - Love According to Dalva

Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution
Mostafa Elkashef (cinematographer) - 19B (Egypt)

Horizons of New Arab Cinema Competition Awards

Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arabic Film
Mother Valley [+leggi anche:
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Salah Abu Seif Award, the Special Jury Award
Riverbed - Bassem Breche (Lebanon/Qatar)

Best Non-Fiction Film Award
Far From the Nile -Sherief Elkatsha (Egypt/USA)

Best Acting Performance Award
Carole Abboud - Riverbed

Special Mentions
I’m Coming Home - Yassine Redissi (Tunisia)
Lyna Khoudri - Houria [+leggi anche:
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International Critics’ Week Competition Awards

Shadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film
Pamfir [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
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Fathy Farag Award for Best Artistic Contribution
Joyland - Saim Sadiq (Pakistan)

Special Mention
Victim [+leggi anche:
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Short Film Competition Awards

Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film
Rosemary A.D. (After Dad) - Ethan Barrett (USA)

Special Jury Award
My Girl Friend - Kawthar Younis (Egypt)

Special Mention
One Fucking Wish - Piotr Jasiński (Czech Republic)

FIPRESCI Award
19B - Ahmad Abdalla

Arab Critics' Awards for European Films
EO [+leggi anche:
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Audience Award
Alam - Firas Khoury