The Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts, which ran from 11 - 17 April, closed its 20th edition yesterday with an award ceremony at the Ismailia Culture Palace. The closing was attended by Governor of Ismailia Yassin Taher, Deputy Culture Minister Khaled Abdel-Galeel, who represented Culture Minister Ines Abdel-Dayem. The event's closing featured a concert by Life Time band, which sang a number of national songs, in addition to a song written especially for the festival Ahmed Raoul with music by Karim Arafa. A screening of a short documentary concluded this year's edition. Festival president Essam Zakaria, as well as Yassin Taher, and Khaled Abdel-Galeel all spoke prior to the announcement of secondary prizes. Swiss-Iraqi director Samir Gamal El-Din was awarded with a special honor, after which the festival's main awards were announced. Long documentary competition Best Film: Sharp Tools by Nujoom Al-Ghanem (UAE) Jury prize: A Woman Captured by Bernadett Tuza-Ritter (Hungary) Special Mention: The Family by Rok Biček (Slovenia – Austria) Short Documentary competition Best film: The Same by Dejan Petrović (Serbia) Jury Prize: Arabic Secret by Julia Groszek (Poland) Short Fiction competition Best Film: The Ticket by Haris Stathopoulos (Greece) Jury Prize: Facing Mecca by Jan-Eric Mack (Switzerland) Animation competition Best Film: Naqla by Youssef Abd-Elamir El-Baqshy (Kuwait) Jury Prize: Airport by Michaela Müller (Switzerland – Canada) Student competition Best short fiction: Like the Sun by Hana Mahmoud (AUC) Best short documentary: Voy by Alaa Helaly (Cairo University) Award from the Egyptian Animation Society Talent Scout by José Herrera (Spain) Best Arab Film Naqla by Youssef El-Baqshy – Animation (Kuwait) Critics Jury Prize One Day in Aleppo by Ali Ibrahim – Short Documentary (Syria) Special mentions for animation film Halfway by Randa Beiruty (Jordan – Germany), and the short documentary film The Last to Leave Rio by Osama Aiad (Egypt)
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