DUBAI: The 44th edition of Cairo International Film Festival kicked off this week by honoring Hungarian film legend Béla Tarr.
Tarr received the festival’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on Nov. 13 during the opening ceremony.
Hussein Fahmy, veteran actor and president of CIFF, said in a statement: “Béla Tarr is heralded as one of the cinematic world’s greatest innovators whose extensive repertoire includes several masterpiece films that largely contributed to the filmmaking world.
“A legendary film pioneer, Tarr often highlighted humanitarian issues in his films using a unique cinematic philosophy, which soon grew as a cinematic concept that is followed by other filmmakers worldwide,” he added. “We are truly honored at CIFF to grant him the Lifetime Achievement Award to celebrate his iconic contributions to the world cinema.”
Egyptian veteran actress Lebleba also received a Lifetime Achievement Award during the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Egyptian director Kamla Abou Zekry was granted the Faten Hamama Award of Excellence.
When receiving the award, Abou Zekry said that standing on the CIFF stage and receiving the award was one of her lifelong dreams.
Egyptian Welsh director Sally El-Hosaini’s drama “The Swimmers” will get its Middle East premiere at the festival. The film got its world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Netflix film is a dramatization of the struggle faced by Syrian refugee sisters Sarah and Yusra Mardini, played by real-life sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa, who fled their war-torn country by boat and had to swim part of the way.
The festival’s red carpet looks have been wowing fans on social media. Actress Dora Zarrouk stepped out in a structured, voluminous black- and-grey dress by Syrian couturier Rami Al-Ali. Egyptian actress and Salma Abu Deif wore a Marmar Halim ensemble that featured a low waisted skirt and corset top.
Russian Egyptian Star Nelly Karim opted for a retro look wearing a hot red dress by Egyptian designer Nour Azazy.
