Cineuropa sat down with Rodrigo Brum, head of Cairo Film Connection, to discuss the 10th edition of the event, a sidebar unspooling within Cairo Industry Days between 13 and 22 November during the 45th Cairo International Film Festival – a platform presenting 18 upcoming fiction and documentary feature projects from the MENA region. Awards from European partners, namely the Drosos Foundation from Switzerland and Medimed in Spain, will also be handed out. Brum, who is also a producer himself, offered his view on collaboration between the European industry and MENA countries. 

Cineuropa: It’s your first year as the head of Cairo Film Connection. Are you planning to implement any changes?
Rodrigo Brum: I joined the Cairo International Film Festival team a bit late, in August, so my initial focus was on managing the essentials and quickly learning the platform’s operations. I was familiar with the CFC, having previously participated as a producer, so I knew it from a guest’s perspective. My first priority was to assemble a selection committee to help evaluate the projects. It was crucial to me that the selection reflected not my taste but the diversity of stories and aesthetic approaches from the region. I chose the committee members based not on how closely they align in their views on regional cinema, but rather on the differences within their perspectives. They reviewed nearly 200 proposals, and narrowing it down to 18 was challenging—due to the quality of the projects but also due to our commitment to creating a shortlist that truly reflects the richness of the proposals we received. Once the selection was completed, we began reaching out to potential sponsors—a task I undertook personally, with support from my team and colleagues. Having experienced the platform as a producer, I understand how crucial it is for projects to have access to a range of awards that enhance their chances of securing funding, particularly from regional and local entities that understand the unique aspects of the regional industry. 

What makes CFC different from other industry events held at festivals, like CineGouna Funding or the Red Sea Souk?
I don’t really compare the work done across these platforms, even though I’m familiar with them, having been selected as a producer for some. To be honest, these platforms are quite similar and follow a strict model regarding project presentations, typically through pitches—a practice that, as I understand, originated in the U.S. industry. Some platforms also include a mentorship system, where professionals help participants prepare their pitches. I’m somewhat critical of mentors who lack an understanding of the local and regional industry’s unique aspects taking on this role. At the CFC, we chose not to include mentors, I also don’t recall mentors being part of the platform in previous years when I participated, and I find this approach interesting. Allowing participants to present their projects without “training” gives them space to discover, through trial and error, the best way to communicate their ideas to the jury and a specialised audience. I understand that the North American film industry places a high value on the “sales” performance, where directors and producers must create an effect of precision and perfection—according, again, to North American standards. I believe a director or producer’s greatest strength is to be themselves and find that crucial point of connection between who they are and the story they want to tell. So, their shyness or hesitation can resonate meaningfully with their projects.

What is the role of European producers and institutions in the event? What is your goal in fostering the collaboration between Europe and the MENA region?
For some time now, European producers and institutions have been actively involved, particularly in independent or arthouse cinema in the region. This is, of course, a necessary collaboration. A European co-producer offers access to funding mechanisms that filmmakers would never have access to on their own. Naturally, many of these mechanisms—and, to a certain extent, the very model of co-production with European countries—come with a trade-off, which often requires part of the production, usually post-production, to be carried out in a European country. There’re also cases where part of the crew must be from the country providing funding. While this may seem fair from the perspective of collaboration between countries, I find it problematic that these mechanisms are not genuinely committed to fostering the autonomy of local markets.

At the El Gouna Film Festival, there was an interesting panel on film preservation and restoration. It was exciting to see, for instance, that a facility like the Cimatheque in Cairo has the expertise needed to carry out high-quality restoration work, but can do so at local rates—70% less than what the CNC charges in France. Recently, I wanted to screen Sambizanga by Sarah Maldoror in Egypt, recently restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. It’s astounding how much an African country must pay to screen a classic of African cinema. This cost is largely due to the high expenses of restoration work done in Europe. To make my answer as open-ended and provide a two-way perspective: I believe Europeans have a great deal to learn from the cinemas emerging in the Global South, as well as from the historiographies of Southern cinemas. Honestly, I think those of us in the Global South are generally more familiar with European cinema than vice versa.