PIB

Egyptian film festival in New Delhi

23 October 2007

Directorate of Film Festivals and Embassy of Arab Republic of Egypt is organizing an Egyptian Film Festival from October 24 to 26, 2007 in Siri Fort Auditorium – II. The three-day Festival will open with the Film ‘Sleepless Nights’ directed by Hani Khalifa. The other four films to be screened during the Festival are: ‘Girls Secrets’ (directed by Magdi Ahmed Ali), ‘Egyptian Tale’ (directed by Monir Rady), ‘Women Love’ (directed by Khalid El Haggar) and ‘Free Times’ (directed by Mohamed Mostafa).

The opening film will be at 6.30 p.m. whereas the screening on the next two days will be at 5.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m.

Egypt has a strong cinematic tradition since the 1930s having the only major motion picture industry in the Arab world with Cairo its capital. The Egyptian cinema has a profound influence on the Arabs. The golden age of Egyptian cinema was in the 1940s and 1950s. during that period Omar Sherif emerged as a major international star and his former wife Fatin Hamama, reigned as the queen of Arab cinema. Directors such as Youssef Chahine have gained wide international respect and many of Egypt’s leading literary lights including Tawfiq Al Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, have written for the cinema. Today, the reigning superstar of the Egyptian cinema is the comedian Adel Imam, whose political satire has earned him the respect of serious filmgoers and occasionally the resentment of the government.

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