In a press conference held last Sunday, at Creativity Center in Cairo Opera House, Egypt, Kamal Abdel Aziz, Festival President at Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts along with Festival Director Mohamed Hefzy announced the programs and competitions of the festival’s 17th edition, where 42 films from across 32 countries will screen, from June 3-8.
In another 10 days, the festival will also reveal the names of other 5 participating films, in addition to the list of the selected film projects that will be part of the Ismailia Co-production Platform as well as the out-of-competition screenings.
Egyptian Director Amir Ramsis’s feature documentary, Jews of Egypt: End of a Journey – a sequel to last year’s Jews of Egypt, which captures the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the twentieth century, through the present, in an attempt to understand how Egyptian society turned from a society full of tolerance and acceptance of one another, to one that that rejects others.
ArtMattan Films picked up and successfully opened the Jews of Egypt theatrically earlier this year, after it screened in several prominent film festivals across the world. And it continues to travel.
Jews of Egypt: End of a Journey continues the first film’s journey.
The festival includes four main sections namely; Long Documentary Films Competition, Short Documentary Films Competition, Short Feature Films Competition, and Animation Films.
The festival’s jury for the Documentary Competition is headed by Syrian Director, Mohammad Malas, and includes the Lebanese Critic, Hauvick Habechian, Egyptian director, Hala Lotfy, and the Indian Film Editor Bina Paul as jury members.
The Short Feature competition Jury consists of Syrian Director Chadi Abu Fakher as well as French Filmmaker George Bollon, Co-founder at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival.
The festival also includes other sections, including films that will screen out of competition, the details of which will be revealed soon. In addition, the festival will also host a number of renowned international filmmakers as guests of honor at this year’s edition.
The Ismailia festival awards the best two films in the main four competitions. The festival prizes are:
– The Golden Tablet and a sum of $3000 will be awarded to the director of the best film in each section of the competition.
– A Jury Prize will be given to two films in each section of the competition and is of the sum of $ 2000.
– An Audience Award that will be given to the winning film.
The festival’s line up, which I’ll profile individually, includes:
– Long Documentary Films Competition (52 or more minutes)
Dangerous Acts | USA | Director: Madeleine Sackler
Concerning Violence | Sweden/USA | Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
My Love Awaits Me By the Sea | Jordon, Germany, Palestine, Qatar | Director: Mais Darwazah
Grazing the Sky | Mexico/Portugal/Spain | Director: Horacio Alcala
Kismet | Greece/Cyprus | Director: Nina Maria Paschalidou
Jews of Egypt 2 | Egypt | Director: Amir Ramsis
Cairo Drive | Egypt | Director: Sherief Elkatsha
Guardians of Time Lost | Lebanon/UAE | Director: Diala Kachmar
Lost in the Bewilderness | Greece/USA | Director: Alexandra Anthony
– Short Documentary Films Competition (less than 52 minutes)
Romy, I am Shy | Germany | Director: Andreas Grutzner
The Visit | Poland | Director: Matej Bobrik
My Name is Mirror | Slovenia | Director: Katarina Resek
Identities | Lithuania | Director: Aiste Zegulyte
Pure State of the Soul | Turkey | Director: Ugur Egeman
Zela Trovke | Spain | Director: Asier Altuna
Om Amira | Egypt | Director: Naji Esmail
My Old Grandmother | Lebanon/France | Director: Hadi Moussally
Xenos |UK/Denmark | Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Inside The Game | Egypt | Director: Mohamed Farouk Manjouneh
The Orchard Keepers | Ireland | Director: Bryony Dunne
Joanna | Poland | Director: Aneta Kopacz
– Short Feature Films Competition (less than 60 minutes)
Flora and Fauna | Poland | Director: Piotr Litwin
Killing Auntie | Poland | Director: Mateusz Glowacki
The Flavors Collection | Moldova/Romania | Director: Igor Cobileanski
Agri and the Mountain | Turkey | Director: Hasan Serin
Rest in Peace | Egypt | Director: Dina Abdl Salam
The Cave | Egypt | Director: Ahmed Ghoneimy
Hunger | Belgium | Director: Benoit De Clerck
Des(pecho)truccion | Venezuela | Director: María Ruiz
Get Married | Tunis | Director: Ismahane Lahmar
Without Voice | Spain | Director: Miguel Parra
Little Secret | Czech Republic | Director: Martin Krejci
Pride | Bulgaria/Germany | Director: Pavel Vesnakov
That Afternoon We Went to See the Pandas | Singapore | Director: Yue Weng Pok
A Very Private Place | Bahrain | Director : Jamal Al Ghailan
Piano | Romania | Director: Dorian Boguta
More Than Two Hours | Iran | Director: Ali Asgari
– Animation Films (Cartoon – Puppets – Computer Graphics)
Father | Argentina/France | Director: Santiago ‘bou’ Grasso
The Kiosk | Switzerland | Director: Anete Melece
Baths | Poland | Director: Tomek Ducki
The High Heel High | Finland | Director: Chrzu
La Testa Fra Le Nuvole | Italy | Director: Roberto Catani
Family in the Park | Mexico| Director: Pedro Gonzales
Mythopolis | Czech Republic | Director: Alexandra Hetmerova
Wahdi | Egypt | Director: Ahmed Mahdy
Ana – A Palindrome | Portugal | Director: Joana Toste
One Cup of Turkish Coffee | Turkey | Director: Nazli Eda Noyan, Daghan Celayir
