International Competition The Golden Pyramid for best film, presented to the producer A Twelve-Year Night, by Álvaro Brechner (Uruguay, Argentina, Spain) A Twelve-Year Night tells the true story of three prisoners who were members of the Tupamaro urban guerilla and were captured at the onset of Uruguay's military dictatorship that ruled between 1973 and 1985. Taken from their jail cells in a secret military operation, they remained in solitary confinement for the whole twelve years, being moved between 40 prisons around the country. Director: Álvaro Brechner Screenplay: Álvaro Brechner Cinematography: Carlos Catalán Cast: Antonio de la Torre, Chino Darín, Alfonso Tort, Soledad Villamil (Photo: still from A Twelve-Year Night, winner of the Golden Pyramid for best film at 40th Cairo International Film Festival) The Silver Pyramid, Special Jury Prize for best director Manta Ray, by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Thailand, France, China) Donbass, by Sergei Loznitsa (Germany, Ukraine, France) The Bronze Pyramid for Best First or Second work of a director Obey, by Jamie Jones (UK) Prize for Best Actress Zsófia Szamosi for One Day, by Zsófia Szilágyi (Hungary) Prize for Best Actor Sherif Desoky for EXT. Night, by Ahmad Abdalla El Sayed (Egypt) Best Artistic Contribution The Third Wife, by Ash Mayfair (Vietnam) Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Best Script Birds of Passage, by Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra Script by Maria Camila Arias, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal (Colombia, Denmark, Mexico) (Photo: still from film Obey) Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition Best Arab Film Prize, Presented by TikTok (15.000$) Poisonous Roses, by Ahmed Fawzy Saleh (Egypt) Salah Abu Seif Prize (Special Jury Prize) Poisonous Roses, by Ahmed Fawzy Saleh (Egypt) Egyptian film Poisonous Roses follows the life of Saqr, a character who seeks to flee the grubby Egyptian tanners' district where he lives and works. The film is based on Ahmed Zaghloul Al-Shiti's 1990 novel titled Saqr's Poisonous Roses. While introducing the viewers to a new perspective of Cairo's tanneries, the film is visually rich, with lots of effort and details given to the cinematography. (Photo: still from film Poisonous Roses) Saad Eldin Wahba Prize for Best Arab Film Fatwa, by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud (Tunisia) Cinema of Tomorrow Short Film Competition Special Mention A Fishers' Recall (Colombia) Special Mention Dark Chocolate (Egypt) The Special Jury Prize She (Kosovo, France) Youssef Chahine Prize for Best Short Film Brotherhood (Canada, Tunisia, Sweden) The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Award Poisonous Roses (Egypt) International Film Critics' Week Fathy Farag Prize for Best Artistic Contribution Erased, Ascent of the Invisible, by Ghassan Halawani (Lebanon) Shadi Abdel Salam Prize for Best Film Aga, by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria, Germany, France) FIPRESCI Award – In memory of Samir Farid A Twelve-Year Night, by Álvaro Brechner (Uruguay, Argentina, Spain) (Photo: still from film Fatwa)
