The closing ceremony of the 46th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF, 12-21 November), as is customary, has taken place in the city’s grand Opera House. The evening opened with the Egyptian national anthem and was followed by the presentation of a picture of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and the audio recording of her final phone call with first responders, before her car was targeted and shot by Israeli forces. “The call you just heard at first may sound like a cinematic scene, but unfortunately, it is real and painful. It is the voice of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian child from Gaza who screamed and pleaded for help for three hours after witnessing the killing of her family members right before her eyes by the occupiers’ bullets. A child no older than six enduring such harsh moments that ended with her death, while the world looked away,” said Hussein Fahmy, the festival’s president and a veteran Egyptian actor. Indeed, The Voice of Hind Rajab [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Kaouther Ben Hania was the event’s closing film. “The power of cinema lies in its ability to document and keep true stories alive, no matter how much some try to ignore or overlook them. Hind, her story and her voice remain present, and children like her are not just numbers, but real human beings made of flesh and blood,” Fahmy concluded.

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As for this edition of the festival itself, Mohamed Tarek, the new artistic director of CIFF, told Cineuropa exclusively, “This year, our focus on the audience paid off – we sold 45,000 tickets, and we received a lot of physical and online reactions to the line-up. We also expanded by opening the XR section, and the market almost tripled in terms of the number of exhibitors, in addition to improvements being made to the ticketing system.”

European cinema won big at the Egyptian gathering, including the top prize – the Golden Pyramid in the International Competition, which was given to Paul Andrew Williams’ Dragonfly [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tarzan Nasser
fiche film] (France/Jordan/UK/Palestine/UAE/Germany/Portugal), while the lead actor from their action-thriller, Majd Eid, took home the Best Actor gong. The Bronze Pyramid Special Jury Prize went to Seyhmus Altun’s As We Breathe [+lire aussi :
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interview : Şeyhmus Altun
fiche film] (Turkey/Denmark), while the Best Screenplay Award was presented to writer-director Alireza Khatami for The Things You Kill [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alireza Khatami
fiche film] (France/Poland/Turkey/Canada). The film also scooped the FIPRESCI Award. The final prize in the International Competition – for Best Artistic Contribution – went to DoP Mathieu Giombini, who lensed Sand City (Bangladesh) by Mahde Hasan.

Souraya Mon Amour (Lebanon/Qatar) by Nicolas Khoury won the Documentary Film Award. The Best Arab Feature Film Award went to Once Upon a Time in Gaza, while Flana (Qatar/Iraq/France) by Zahraa Ghandour received a Special Mention; the NETPAC jury decided to hand its prize to The Botanist (China) by Jing Yi.

In the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition, the Saad Eddine Wahba Best Arab Film Award went to Sarah Francis for Dead Dog (Lebanon). Ali Saeed received the Salah Abu Seif Special Jury Prize for his ANTI-CINEMA (Saudi Arabia), the Best Screenplay Award was presented to Yasser Shafiey for Complaint No. 713317 (Egypt), and the Best Acting statuette went to Afef Ben Mahmoud for her performance in Round 13 (Tunisia).

In the International Critics’ Week Competition, the Shadi Adbel Salam Award for Best Film was pocketed by Alex Bakri for Habibi Hussein (Germany/Palestine/Saudi Arabia/Sweden). In My Parents’ House [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tim Ellrich
fiche film] by Tim Elrich (Germany) scooped the Fathi Farag Special Jury Prize, and the Special Mention went to The Botanist.

The winners of the Short Film Competition Awards were announced as well. The Youssef Chahine Best Short Film Award went to Cairo Streets (Egypt) by Abdullah Al-Taye, the Best Arab Short Film Award went to Lynn El Safah for Two Tetas (Lebanon), while Neo Sora received the Special Jury Prize for A Very Straight Neck (Japan).

Finally, the Audience Award was presented to One More Show (Egypt/Palestine) by Mai Saad and Ahmed Eldenf.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Competition

Golden Pyramid for Best Film
Dragonfly [+lire aussi :
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Silver Pyramid – Special Jury Award for Best Director
Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser – Once Upon a Time in Gaza [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tarzan Nasser
fiche film] (France/Jordan/UK/ Palestine/UAE/Germany/Portugal)

Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay
Alireza Khatami – The Things You Kill [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alireza Khatami
fiche film] (France/Poland/Turkey/Canada)

Best Actor Award  
Majd Eid - Once Upon a Time in Gaza

Best Actress Award (ex-aequo)
Andrea Riseborough, Brenda Blethyn – Dragonfly

Award for Best Artistic Contribution
Mathieu Giombini – Sand City (Bangladesh)

FIPRESCI Prize
The Things You Kill - Alireza Khatami

NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film
The Botanist – Jing Yi (China)

Audience Award
One More Show - Mai Saad, Ahmed Eldanf (Egypt/Palestine)

Best Arab Feature Film Competition

Best Arab Feature Film Award
Once Upon a Time in Gaza - Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser
Special Mention
Flana - Zahraa Ghandour (Qatar/Iraq/France)

Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition

Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arab Film
Dead Dog – Sarah Francis (Lebanon)

Salah Abu Seif Award Special Jury Prize
ANTI-CINEMA – Ali Saeed (Saudi Arabia)

Youssef Sherif Rezkallah Award for Best Screenwriter
Complaint No. 713317 – Yasser Shafiey (Egypt)

Best Actor Award
Afef Ben Mahmoud – Round 13 (Tunisia)

International Critics’ Week Competition

Shadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film
Habibi Hussein – Alex Bakri (Germany/Palestine/Saudi Arabia/Sweden)

Fathy Farag Award - Special Jury Award
In My Parents’ House [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tim Ellrich
fiche film] – Tim Elrich (Germany)
Special Mention
The Botanist – Jing Yi (China)

Documentary Competition

Best Feature Documentary Award
Souraya Mon Amour – Nicolas Khoury (Lebanon/Qatar)

International Short Film Competition

Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film
Cairo Streets – Abdullah Al-Taye (Egypt)

Special Jury Award
A Very Straight Neck – Neo Sora (Japan)

Best Arab Short Film
Two Tetas – Lynn El Safah (Lebanon)