History Of CIFF
Egypt 's love of the arts in general can be traced back to the rich heritage bequeathed
by the Pharaohs. In modern times, Egypt has enjoyed a strong cinematic tradition
since the art of filmmaking was first developed, early in the 20th century. A natural
progression from the active theatre scene of the time, cinema rapidly evolved into
a vast motion picture industry. This together with the much older music tradition,
raised Egypt to become the cultural capital of the Arab world.
Unrestrained by national borders, it has linked countries as far apart as Morocco
and Yemen and made the Egyptian dialect the entertainment lingua franca of the region.
The influence of Egyptian cinema is as profound in the region as that of the American
cinema on the rest of the world, earning Cairo the title of "Hollywood" of the Middle
East.
For more than 500 years of recorded history, Egypt has fascinated the West and inspired
its creative talents from play writer William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist John
Dryden, and novelist and poet Laurence Durrell to film producer Cecil B. de Mille.
Since the silent movies Hollywood has been capitalising on the box-office returns
that come from combining Egyptian stories with visual effects.
Egypt has also been a fount of Arabic literature producing some of the 20th century's
greatest Arab writers such as Taha Hussein and Tawfiq Al Hakim to Nobel Laureate,
novelist Naguib Mahfouz. Each of them has written for the cinema.
With these credentials, it was clear that Cairo should aim to hold an international
film festival.
This dream came true on Monday August 16th 1976, when the first Cairo International
Film Festival was launched by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics,
headed by Kamal El-Mallakh. The Association ran the festival for seven years until
1983.
In order to improve the event, the Ministry of Culture, the members of the Association,
and the Union of Artists’ Syndicates, which supervised the event in 1984, formed
a joint committee.
In 1985, the Festival began a new era under the leadership of the eminent play writer
Saad El-Din Wahba, an eminent writer and efficient executive, who was appointed
by the Minister of Culture. Then, the Festival became an independent organisation.
During his initial year of responsibility, Saad El-Din Wahba contacted the FIAPF,
and in May 1986, this august body recognised the Cairo International Film Festival
as a non-competitive event.
In 1990 the FIAPF made a study of the three most important non-competitive film
festivals in the world, and the Cairo International Film Festival was ranked second
after the London Film Festival and ahead of the Stockholm Film Festival.
This achievement lead to the President of the Festival again contacting the FIAPF
with the request that a competition should be included at the 1991 Festival. The
request was granted.
In 1998, the Festival took place under the presidency of one of Egypt's leading
actors, Hussein Fahmi, who was appointed by the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni,
after the death of Saad El-Din Wahba.
Four years later, the journalist and writer Cherif El-Shoubashy became president.
For 29 years, the home of the Pyramids and Nile has hosted international superstars
like Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Bud Spencer, Gina Lollobrigida,
Ornella Mutti, Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Victoria Abril, Elizabeth Taylor,
Shashi Kapoor, Alain Delon, Greta Scacchi, Catherine Deneuve, Peter O'toole, Christopher
Lee, Irene Pappas, Marcello Mastroianni and Omar Sharif, as well as great directors
like Robert Wise, Elia Kazan, Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Stone, Roland Joffe, Carlos
Saura, Ismail Merchant and Michel Angelo Antonioni, in an annual celebration and
examination of the state of cinema in the world today.
This year the 30Th Cairo International Film Festival will take place under the presidency
of the actor Dr Ezzat Abou Auf and the honorary President the international super
star Omar Sharif. They were appointed by the ministry of culture Farouk Hosny.