The Cairo Film Connection (CFC) team have unveiled the 15 film projects selected for its seventh edition, which will take place as part of the 42nd edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) in November. “This year, we are determined to continue supporting Arab Cinema by shedding light on the young Arab filmmaking talent and their distinct projects, defying all the challenges imposed by the pandemic," said CIFF president Mohamed Hefzy on Tuesday, noting that all required precautions would be taken in light of the coronavirus. The CFC, part of the Cairo Industry Days programme, is becoming one of the pillar segments of the festival. This year it received 105 project submissions, out of which was created a shortlist of 15 from across 12 Arab countries. Seven are feature narratives in-development, one is a narrative project in post-production, four are in-development documentary films and three are documentaries in post-production. "There are numerous reasons why we feel proud of this year's edition. Mayye Zayed's film Lift Like A Girl, which is an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, participated in the 5th Cairo Film Connection in 2018, and has been selected to screen in the official competition of the 42nd edition of Cairo International Film Festival," said Hefzy, who added that "50 percent of the selected projects are by female directors.” CFC manager Meriame Deghedi said their mission is to "to build on the previous years' success, but most importantly to offer full support to Arab filmmakers and talents who have been affected by this year's global crisis." "We are very pleased to receive submissions from the legendary Yousry Nasrallah and award-winning director Kaouther Ben Hania, who submit their film projects side by side with upcoming directors such as Bassel Ghandour, producer of Oscar-nominated Theeb," Deghedi stated. Cairo Industry Days is a space for discussions, networking, meetings, workshops, master-classes and partnership and co-production opportunities that bring together Arab talents and regional and international industry professionals. The CFC awards were worth $200,000 last year. Cairo Film Connection's 15 selected projects Feature narratives in-development: - The Legend of Zainab and Noah by director Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt) - I Can Hear Your Voice... Still by Sameh Alaa (Egypt) - Breakfast Lunch and Dinner by Mohamed Samir (Egypt) - Snow White by Taghrid Abuelhassan (Egypt) - Passage by Amr Ali (Syria) - Fog by Ruba Atiyeh (Iraq/Lebanon) - Scheherazade Goes Silent by Amira Diab (Palestine/Jordan) Post-production feature narrative: The Alleys by Bassel Ghandour (Jordan/Egypt/Saudi Arabia) Documentaries in-development: - Olfa's Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France) - Flying Like a Bird by El Mahdi Lyoubi (Morocco/France) - Tell Them About Us by Rand Beiruty (Jordan/Germany) - Caesar by Widad Shafakoj (Jordan/USA) Documentaries in post-production: - Before the Final Picture by Aya Tallah Yusuf (Egypt) - The Last Projectionist by Alex Bakri (Palestine/Germany) - Iraq Invisible Beauty by Sahim Omar (Iraq/Belgium/France)
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