Friday March 29th, 2024
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Egyptian Films Take Over ADFF

The seventh Abu Dhabi Film Festival starts tomorrow and six Egyptians films are on the schedule.

Staff Writer

The seventh annual Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off tomorrow and a whopping six Egyptian films have made the cut for the regional showcase of Arab movies.

Nominated in the category for Best Narrative is Ahmed Abdalla's Farsh wa Ghata (Rags and Tatters), which received positive reviews at both the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the London International Film Festival.

Director Ayten Amin's Villa 69 is expected to hit cinemas in Egypt on February 2014, but will be showcased during the New Horizons screening category, which crowned Hala Lotfy as last year’s Best Director in the Arab world for the film Coming Forth by Day.

As for Best Documentary, Sherif El-Katsha's Cairo Drive will be making its world premiere at the festival and is hoping to match the success of last year’s winners Wael Omar and Philippe Dib.

In the short film category, Though I Know the River is Dry, directed by Omar Robert Hamilton and Louis Lewarne, has a very good chance of winning as it has already taken home the Prix UIP award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam and was nominated for best short film at the European Film Awards.

The other two films that will be screened as part of the 'Special Programming' selection are a couple of Egyptian contemporary classics: 1985's Al Saalik by Daoud Abdel Sayed and Radwan El-Kashef's 1999's Araq Al Balah.