12:40 p.m
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Written by: Manal Al-Gyoushi
The Aswan International Women’s Film Festival closed the curtain on the activities of its eighth session today, Thursday, April 25, with the jury committees of the festival announcing the films that have won awards this year in various programs and competitions of the festival.
The ceremony started with the Republican Anthem, then a promo showing the most prominent acts of the festival and a review of the winning films of the eighth session of the festival.
This year, the session saw a very good collaboration between the festival and the European Union in Egypt, led by Ambassador Christian Berger, during the program of workshops and the NOT Forum, especially regarding women’s issues and rights, helping to empower women, equality, combating violence against women, and supporting filmmakers, directors and writers who work to support social issues, because films send important messages about women, their issues, and their place in society, as well as working to empower them in several aspects. The European Union confirmed its continued support for filmmaking training programs and support for this industry.
The administration of the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival honored Ambassador Christian Berger, head of the European Union delegation in Cairo, for his efforts over the past years to ensure the success of the festival, especially with that the European Union has a long-term cooperation with Egypt and the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival, through joint programs and initiatives that affect… The lives of many Egyptian women through access to education, job opportunities, social and health services, and access to leadership roles in public life and the private sector.
The jury of the main films decided to give the best film prize to “Daughters of Olfa”, screenplay and direction by Kawthar Ben Hania and co-production between 4 countries: France, Tunisia, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
The award for best direction was won by director Sarah Somma for the German film “Arthur and Diana”, and the award for best setting was won by director and writer Kawthar Ben Hania for the film “Daughters of Olfa”, and the award for the best. Acting went to Bianca Delbravo, Delphine Asaad and Saphira Mosberg, the heroine of the film “Paradise is Burning”, which is a co-production among 4 countries: Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Italy the Egyptian film “The Letters of Sheikh Daraz,” screened and directed by Maggie Morgan.
The jury of the feature film competition was led by Tunisian editor Kahina Attia, and its members included Finnish star Alma Puesti, Polish director and screenwriter Jagoda Schilz, and director Aiten Amin.
The short films jury gave a special mention to the Egyptian film “Shi Gabi”, screened and directed by Islam Kamal. went to director Dalia Nemlish for the Lebanese film “You Remember”, and won the best award The film “The Envoy of God”, written and directed by Amina Mamani Abdoulaye, is a co-production between Niger , Burkina Faso and Rwanda. .
The short film competition jury included star Nahid El Sebaei, Czech director and screenwriter Lucie Kralova, and director and screenwriter Mervat Kamoun.
The Best Egyptian Film Award was also won by “Journey 404”, directed by Hani Khalifa, screenplay by Mohamed Raja, filmed by Fawzi Darwish, and starring Mona Zaki, Mohamed Farrag, Mohamed Mamdouh, Sherine Reda, Mohamed Alaa, Hassan Al-Addl , and represented by Mohamed Hefzy and Shahinaz Al-Akkad.
The jury of the Egyptian Film Competition was established under the chairmanship of the Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi, and its membership includes the star Rania Youssef and the Moroccan critic and writer Mohamed Shweika.
The administration of the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival, in collaboration with the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion, decided to award a special award for the best Egyptian film that contributes to the promotion of Egyptian tourism and shows the beauty of tourist and archaeological sites in Egypt. Among the recently made Egyptian films, the award went to the Egyptian film “Maqsoum.”
The European Union prize went equally between the Egyptian film “The Letters of Sheikh Daraz,” screened and directed by Maggie Morgan, and “Daughters of Olfa,” screened and directed by Kawthar Ben Haniyeh , and co-produced by 4 countries: France, Tunisia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.
Director Hala Khalil headed the jury for the European Union Award for Best Euro-Mediterranean Film, whose membership included Saudi-Egyptian producer Bahu Bakhsh, director of photography Hussein Bakr, head of the Center National Film, Palestinian writer and producer Layali Badr, and Finnish artist Sherwan Haji.
The jury for the Films With Athar Award won the best film award for the film “I told you,” directed by Malak Al-Sayyad, an Egyptian-American-German production. ” directed by Muhannad Diab, which is a co-production between Egypt and the Netherlands, and the jury won the prize for the best idea for the film “Internal Day” directed by Rafiq Joseph.
Among the jury for the winning films competition was the writer Dr. Dalia Bassiouni, Lebanon Doris Saba, Executive Director of the Beirut Film Society, and Dr. Samir Shaheen, Professor and former Head of the Department of Decoration at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
The first prize in the workshop films competition was won by the film “Resurrection”, written and directed by Mohamed Rabie, the second prize was won by the film “The Wheel”, written and directed by Safaa Metwally, and the third prize was won by the film “You Live”, written and directed by Mahmoud Hamdy.
The committee gave special mention to the film “Al-Ghanaya” directed by Randa Diaa, the film “Biography of Paths” directed by Amr Mostafa, and the film “Light of Solitude” written and directed by Maryam Abdel Ghaffar special mention to the actor Khaled Atallah for his performance in the workshop films.
Sudanese actress Iman Youssef, star Randa Al-Behairi, and Iraqi visual artist Imad Mansour participated in the workshop film competition jury.
This year, the festival administration honored the star Hend Sabry, the star Ghada Adel, the Finnish star Alma Puesti, Dr. Mona El-Sabban, the Tunisian editor Kahneh Attia, and Dr. Ghada Abu Zeid, Deputy -The governor of Aswan organized a special section for Tunisian short films which included 5 films, namely: “Devil,” “Nidal.” “Qiqa,” “Ikhwan,” “Raneem,” and “Mish Maarouf.” 10 films participated in the special film competition: “Girls of Olfa,” “Messages of Sheikh Daraz,” “After Heavy Rain,” “Germany,” “Andrew’s Dreams,” “Arthur and Diana,” “Behind the Scenes,” “Tiger Stripes,” “The Sky Is Burning,” “Forest.” While the short film competition saw the participation of 20 films, they are: “600 Grams,” “My Father,” “Under the Feet of a Mother”, “Shi Gabi”, “Between You and Me”, “Colorado”, “Heaven’s Ambassador”, “Eternal Rest”, “While You Love Me, Go”, “Icy Love” , “As thanks to the illness”, “Me and Aidarous”, “End of summer”, “A breakup”, “Brown skin”, “Skin color”, “Do you remember”, “Zombie very fast ” “Susan,” “Take me home.”
The festival also organized an Egyptian film competition in which 4 films competed: “Journey 404,” “Eid Night,” “Messages of Sheikh Daraz,” and “Maqsoum.”
The festival held a competition called “Films with Impact” in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, with 10 films competing for prizes: “Light of My Eyes,” “Adult Education,” “Fasla,” “Latha inside,” “I told you,” “Just a Number.” “My beloved wife Jihan,” “Nawara,” “Souad’s Laughter,” “Match Wife.”
In the program of workshops held by the festival there were 11 films, between fiction and documentary, created by the girls and youth of Aswan. This year, it celebrated Palestinian cinema by presenting 6 Palestinian films that ‘ expressing the reality of Palestinian women a special program for Sudanese cinema that included 5 short films.
The eighth session of the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Women’s Council, the Aswan Administration, the Tourism Promotion Authority, and EgyptAir, and in partnership with the Ministry of Social Solidarity . , the European Union, the Drosos Authority, the ACT Foundation, Red Star, and the Cinematographers Syndicate And the National Cinema Center.
