The 33rd annual Cairo International Film Festival

Cairo International Film Festival

The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cairo, Egypt. It was established in 1976 and was the first international film festival held in the Arab world...

was held from November 10 to November 20, 2009. Indian director Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Moutatthu "Adoor" Gopalakrishnan Unnithan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. Adoor Gopalakrishnan had a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema and is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of India.. Adoor's first film Swayamvaram pioneered the new wave cinema...

 was the President of the Jury.

Films in competition

The following films competed for the Golden Pyramid.

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
Luisa		Gonzalo Calzada	Argentina
I Believe In Angels	Vjerujemu Anjele	Niksa Svilicic	Independent State of Croatia
The Nile Birds	عصافير النيل	Magdy Ahmed Ali	Egypt
Letters to Father Jackob	Postia Pappi Jaakobille	Klaus Härö Klaus Härö Klaus Härö, born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo , Finland, Finland-Swedish film director. In 2004, Härö won Finland's State Prize for Art.-Films:*Letters to Father Jacob *The New Mankind *Mother of Mine...	Finland
The Hedgehog The Hedgehog The Hedgehog is a French film directed by Mona Achache, loosely based on the novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Made in 2008, the film was released in theatres in 2009.- Synopsis :...	Le hérisson	Mona Achache	Early Modern France
Slaves in Their Bonds	Οι Σκλάβοι στα Δεσμά τους	Adonis Lykouresis	Greece
The Days of Desire	Vágyakozás Napjai	Jósef Pacskovszky	Hungary
Madholal Keep Walking		Jai Tank	India
New York New York (film) New York is a 2009 Bollywood thriller directed by Kabir Khan, produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films, and with a screenplay by Sandeep Srivastava. Visual effects are by Visual Computing Labs, Tata Elxsi Ltd. It stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Irrfan Khan...		Kabir Khan Kabir Khan (director) Kabir Khan is an Pathan Indian film director, screenwriter, and camera operator of documentary and Bollywood films.-Career:A graduate of Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, Khan started his career as a cinematographer for the documentary film, Beyond the Himalayas which was directed by Gautam...	India
The Friends at the Margherita Cafe	Gli amici del bar Margherita	Pupi Avati Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:...	Italy
Vortex	Duburys	Gytis Luksas	Lithuania
Crossword Destinies	فينك اليام	Driss Chouika	Morocco
Tiny Dust, True Love		Shen Dong	Mainland China
Splinters	Drzazgi	Maciej Pieprzyca	Poland
Amália Amália (film) Amália is a 2008 Portuguese biographical film directed by Carlos Coelho da Silva and starring Sandra Barata, Carla Chambel and José Fidalgo. Barata portrays legendary Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues; songs used in the film are recordings of Amália. The film has been criticised by some...		Carlos Coelho da Silva	Portugal
One War	Одна Война	Vera Glagoleva	Russia
I Saw The Sun	Güneşi Gördüm	Mahsun Kırmızıgül Mahsun Kirmizigül Mahsun Kırmızıgül is a Kurdish singer–songwriter, actor and a film producer from the minority Zaza ethnic group. Mahsun Kırmızıgül is also known as a businessman owning one of the leading music production companies, Prestij Müzik, in Turkey....	Turkey

Digital Competition

The following films were screened in the Digital Competition for Feature Films category.

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
(Un)Lucky	زهر	Fatma-Zohra Zamoum	Algeria
Open Diaries		Sasha A. Schriber Sasha A. Schriber Sasha A. Schriber is a film director. Sasha A. Schriber is daughter of German and Russian parents. She is a resident of Switzerland, but Sasha spends her time in Vancouver from time to time...	Canada
Exile in Paris	Paris d'exil	Ahmet Zirek	Early Modern France
C.V. Attached	Im Anhang: Lebenslauf	Andrea Schorr	Germany
Tenderness	Τρυφερότητα	Panagiotis Karamitsos	Greece
Witches Circle	Boszorkanykor	Dizso Zsigmond	Hungary
First Time	Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai	Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam	India
The Rapture of Fe	Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe	Alvin Yapan	Philippines
Contract	Contrato	Nicolau Breyner	Portugal
Wait For Me and I Will Not Return	Čekaj me, ja sigurno neću doći	Miroslav Momcilovic	Serbia
Xtrems		Abel Folk, Joan Riedweg	Spain
New Year's Eve New Year's Eve (film) New Year's Eve is an upcoming romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall. Like Valentine's Day, Marshall's previous film, it depicts a series of holiday vignettes of the state of several romances.-Cast:...		Jhake R. Wells	Switzerland
The Watcher	Bekçi	Özcan Tekdemir	Turkey
Godforsaken		Jamil Dehlavi Jamil Dehlavi Jamil Dehlavi is British film director/producer. He was born in Calcutta, India to an Indian father and French mother.-Filmography:* 1973 Guitarist* 1976 Towers of Silence* 1980 The Blood of Hussain* 1986 Born of Fire...	United Kingdom

Arab Competition

The following films were screened in the Arab Competition for Feature Films category.

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
Journey to Algiers	رحلة الى الجزائر	Abdelkrim Baloul	Algeria
Heliopolis Heliopolis (film) Heliopolis is a 2009 Egyptian independent musical documentary film by Ahmad Abdalla that tells the story of a group of young people during a winter day in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis...	مصر الجديدة	Ahmad Abdalla Ahmad Abdalla Ahmad Abdalla El Sayed Abdelkader is an Egyptian film director, editor and screen writer.His debut feature film is Heliopolis - 2009, his second film is Microphone - 2010- Microphone - 2010 :...	Egypt
The Nile Birds	عصافير النيل	Magdy Ahmed Ali	Egypt
Tale of a Mchaouchi Wrestler	موسم المشاوشة	Mohamed Ahed Bensouda	Morocco
Crossword Destinies	فينك اليام	Driss Chouika	Morocco
Amreeka Amreeka Amreeka is a 2009 American/Canadian/Kuwaiti independent film written and directed by first-time director Cherien Dabis. It stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Joseph Ziegler, and Miriam Smith....	أمريكا	Cherien Dabis Cherien Dabis Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian American director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in 2009.-Background:...	Palestinian territories/ United States
Pomegranates and Myrrh	المر و الرمان	Najwa Najjar	Palestinian territories
The Long Night	الليل الطويل	Hatem Ali Hatem Ali Hatem Ali is a Syrian actor as well as a television and cinema director.In the year 1986, Ali gained acceptance in theater arts, and worked as a teacher for Acting in the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts.- Cinema :...	Syria
Thirty	ثلاثون	Fadhel Jaziri	Tunisia
Buried Secrets	أسرار دفينة	Raja Amari	Tunisia
A Very Beautiful Trip	سفرة يا محلاها	Khaled Ghorbal	Tunisia/ Early Modern France

Films out of competition

The following films were screened out of the competition.

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
A Fly in the Ashes	La mosca in la ceniza	Gabriela David	Argentina
Cairo Time Cairo Time Cairo Time is a 2009 film by Canadian director Ruba Nadda. It is a romantic drama about a brief, unexpected love affair that catches two people completely off-guard....		Ruba Nadda Ruba Nadda Ruba Nadda is an Arab Canadian film director. She was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 6 December 1972 to a Syrian father and a Palestinian mother. She made several award-winning short films, including Lost Woman Story, Interstate Love Story, So Far Gone and Damascus Nights before writing and...	Canada
The Traveller The Traveller (2009 film) The Traveller is an Egyptian Film directed by Ahmed Maher The story takes place in the course of three days of the life of Hassan, the octogenarian protagonist, played by Khaled El Nabawy as the young Hassan and Omar Sharif as the older Hassan...	المسافر	Ahmed Maher	Egypt
Teza Teza (film) Teza is a 2008 Ethiopian drama film about the Derg period in Ethiopia. Teza won the top award at the 2009 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou. The film was directed and written by Haile Gerima.-Synopsis:...		Haile Gerima Haile Gerima Haile Gerima is an Ethiopian filmmaker, who resides in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have received wide international acclaim. Gerima has also been an influential film professor at...	Ethiopia/ Early Modern France/ Germany
Marchal	MR 73	Olivier Marchal Olivier Marchal Olivier Marchal is a French actor, director, screenwriter, and a former policeman. In 2005, he was nominated for three César Awards , for his film 36 Quai des Orfèvres....	Early Modern France
A Widow at Last	Enfin veuve	Isabelle Mergault	Early Modern France
Client (A French Gigolo)	Cliente	Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko Josiane Balasko is a French actress, writer and director.She was born Josiane Balašković in Paris. One of Balasko's most recognized roles among English speakers is as a lesbian in 1995's Gazon maudit...	Early Modern France
Home Home (2009 film) Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. It shows the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet...		Yann Arthus-Bertrand Yann Arthus-Bertrand Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a French photographer, journalist, reporter and environmentalist.- Early life :Yann Arthus-Bertrand was born in Paris on March 13, 1946 in a renowned jewellers' family founded in 1803 by Claude Arthus-Bertrand and Michel-Ange Marion. His sister Catherine is one of his...	Early Modern France
Lost Times	Utolsó idők	Áron Mátyássy	Hungary
Dawn of the World Dawn of the World Dawn of the World is a feature film written and directed by the Iraqi-French film director Abbas Fahdel.Starring Venice Film Festival revelation Hafsia Herzi and Hiam Abbass , Dawn of the World gives an unexpected account of the multiple impacts of the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War and the 1991...	فجر العالم	Abbas Fahdel Abbas Fahdel Abbas Fahdel is an Iraqi-French film director, screenwriter and film critic, born in Babylon, Iraq.Based in France since the age of 18 years, he studied cinema at the Sorbonne University until Ph.D....	Early Modern France/ Germany/ Iraq
Casanegra	كزانكرا	Nour Eddine Lakhmari	Morocco
Ward No. 6	Палата № 6	Karen Shakhnazarov Karen Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov is a Soviet and Russian-Armenian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He became the Director General of the Mosfilm studios in 1998.Shakhnazarov is the son of a prominent politician of Armenian descent, Georgy Shakhnazarov....	Russia
Day of Defeated	Dehb nepemome hux	Yamburskiy Valeriy	Ukraine
The Soloist The Soloist The Soloist is a 2009 American/French/British drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The screenplay by Susannah Grant is based on the book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez...		Joe Wright Joe Wright Joe Wright is an English film director best known for Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Hanna.-Early life and career:...	United Kingdom/ United States/ Early Modern France
New Town Killers New Town Killers New Town Killers is a United Kingdom drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, starring James Anthony Pearson and Dougray Scott. New Town Killers follows two business men, portrayed by Dougray Scott and Alastair Mackenzie, who play macabre cat and mouse games with people from the fringes...		Richard Jobson Richard Jobson (television presenter) Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...	United Kingdom
The Limits of Control The Limits of Control -Cultural references mentioned in the dialogue:* Suspicion by Alfred Hitchcock* Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky* The Lady from Shanghai by Orson Welles* La Vie de Bohème by Aki Kaurismäki* La vida no vale nada by Rogelio A...		Jim Jarmusch Jim Jarmusch James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...	United States/ Japan

International Competition

• Adoor Gopalakrishnan
  Adoor Gopalakrishnan
  Moutatthu "Adoor" Gopalakrishnan Unnithan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. Adoor Gopalakrishnan had a major role in revolutionizing Malayalam cinema and is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of India.. Adoor's first film Swayamvaram pioneered the new wave cinema...
  
  , Indian director (President)
• Belkacem Hadjadj, Algerian director
• Marcelo Mosenson
  Marcelo Mosenson
  Marcelo Mosenson is the founder and executive director of the film production company Nomade Films.Mosensen was born in Buenos Aires in 1969. He traveled to Paris at the age of 20 where he met his mentor, cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich. He worked as his assistant on a number of films in France...
  
  , Argentinian producer
• Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Canadian actress and director
• Hala Fakher, Egyptian actress
• Moustafa Fahmi, Egyptian actor and cinematographer
• Giuseppe Piccioni, Italian director, writer, actor and producer
• Ingeborga Dapkunaite
  Ingeborga Dapkunaite
  Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė is a Lithuanian actress, who stars mostly in Russian movies.-Youth:Ingeborga Dapkunaite was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR. Her father was a diplomat and her mother a meteorologist. For many years her parents worked in Moscow, and she only saw them on holidays...
  
  , Lithuanian actress
• Krzysztof Krauze
  Krzysztof Krauze
  Krzysztof Krauze is a Polish film director, screenwriter, photographer and cinematographer from Warsaw best known for his 1999 film thriller Debt....
  
  , Polish director and screenwriter
• Ioana Maria Uricaru, Romanian director
• Juan Diego Botto
  Juan Diego Botto
  Juan Diego Botto-Rota is an Argentine-Spanish actor.Botto's father disappeared during the Argentine Dirty War when Juan Diego was only two years old...
  
  , Spanish actor
• Tom Berenger
  Tom Berenger
  Tom Berenger is an American actor known mainly for his roles in action films.-Early life:Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago to an Irish Catholic family. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Berenger has a sister, Susan...
  
  , American actor

Digital Competition

• Victor Okhai, Nigerian director, writer and producer (President)
• Nadia Kaci, Algerian actress
• Marianne Khoury, Egyptian director and producer
• Imma Piro, Italian actress
• Vikas Swarup
  Vikas Swarup
  Vikas Swarup is an Indian novelist and diplomat who has served in Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Japan, best known for his novels Q & A and Six Suspects.-Early life:...
  
  , Indian wrtier
• Joanna Kos-Krauze, Polish director and screenwriter
• Rachid Ferchiou, Tunisian director and screenweiter
• Norma Heyman, English actress
• Edreace Purmul, American director

Arab Competition

• Yehia El-Fakharany, Egyptian actor (President)
• Lyès Salem, Algerian director
• Ghada Adel, Egyptian actress
• Kassem Hawal, Iraqi director
• Sana Mouziane, Moroccan actress
• Mai Masri
  Mai Masri
  Mai Masri is a U.S.-educated Palestinian filmmaker who has directed eight films.- Early life:Masri is the daughter of Munib Masri from Nablus and an American mother from Texas who was raised in Beirut, where she has lived most of her life. She graduated from San Francisco State University in 1981....
  
  , Palestinian director

Awards

The winners of the 2009 Cairo International Film Festival were:

• Golden Pyramid: Postia Pappi Jaakobille by Klaus Härö
  Klaus Härö
  Klaus Härö, born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo , Finland, Finland-Swedish film director. In 2004, Härö won Finland's State Prize for Art.-Films:*Letters to Father Jacob *The New Mankind *Mother of Mine...
  
  
• Sliver Pyramid: Le hérisson by Mona Achache
• Best Director: Mona Achache for Le hérisson
• Saad El-Din Wahba Prize (Best Screenplay): Klaus Härö
  Klaus Härö
  Klaus Härö, born 31 March 1971 in Porvoo , Finland, Finland-Swedish film director. In 2004, Härö won Finland's State Prize for Art.-Films:*Letters to Father Jacob *The New Mankind *Mother of Mine...
  
   for Postia Pappi Jaakobille
• Best Actor:
  • Fathy Abdel Wahab for The Nile Birds
  • Subrat Dutta for Madholal Keep Walking
• Best Actress: Karolina Piechota for Drzazgi
• Naguib Mahfouz Prize (Best Directorial Debut): Gonzalo Calzada for Luisa
• Youssef Chahine Prize (Best Artistic Contribution): Vera Glagoleva for Odna voyna

• Best Arabic Film: Amreeka
  Amreeka
  Amreeka is a 2009 American/Canadian/Kuwaiti independent film written and directed by first-time director Cherien Dabis. It stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Joseph Ziegler, and Miriam Smith....
  
  by Cherien Dabis
  Cherien Dabis
  Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian American director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in 2009.-Background:...
  
  
• Best Arabic Screenplay: Cherien Dabis
  Cherien Dabis
  Cherien Dabis is a Palestinian American director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of Variety magazine's 10 Directors to Watch in 2009.-Background:...
  
   for Amreeka
  Amreeka
  Amreeka is a 2009 American/Canadian/Kuwaiti independent film written and directed by first-time director Cherien Dabis. It stars Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Joseph Ziegler, and Miriam Smith....
  
  
• Arabic Film Special Mention:
  • Heliopolis
    Heliopolis (film)
    Heliopolis is a 2009 Egyptian independent musical documentary film by Ahmad Abdalla that tells the story of a group of young people during a winter day in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis...
    
    by Ahmad Abdalla
    Ahmad Abdalla
    Ahmad Abdalla El Sayed Abdelkader is an Egyptian film director, editor and screen writer.His debut feature film is Heliopolis - 2009, his second film is Microphone - 2010- Microphone - 2010 :...
    
    
  • The Long Night by Hatem Ali
    Hatem Ali
    Hatem Ali is a Syrian actor as well as a television and cinema director.In the year 1986, Ali gained acceptance in theater arts, and worked as a teacher for Acting in the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts.- Cinema :...
    
    

• Golden Award for Digital Films: The Rapture of Fe by Alvin Yapan
• Silver Award for Digital Films:
  • Exile in Paris by Ahmet Zirek
  • First Time by Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam

• FIPRESCI Prize: Mona Achache for Le hérisson

External links

• Official Cairo International Festival Site (in English)
• Cairo International Film Festival:2009 at Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...