The34th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF)opened 30 November on the grounds of the Cairo Opera House. Hosting the ceremony were Egyptian actor Asser Yassin and the model Arwa Gouda.Omar El Sherif kicked off the evening, wooing the crowd. Welcoming Julitte Binoche and Richard Gere, he humouredthat the womenin attendance were clearlyexcited by Gere's presence, not his. In a flirting spirit, hecongratulated Binoche on her Oscar win, saying . “I was nominated and didn't win but I deserve it”. In attendance was also Ezzat Abou Auf, the president of the festival, who talked about Egypt's influence throughout history on world culture and arts. This year's festival, which includes 70 countries, features three main prize-winning categories. Jury members heading the award sectionsare Mexican director Arturo Ripstein for the International competition for feature films, Egyptian producer Mohamed El-Adl (producer Egypt) for the Arabic films competition and Cameroonian director Bassek Ba Kobhio for the competition for digital feature films. Ripstein is best known forTiempo de Morir (Time to Die), written by Carlos Fuentes and Gabriel García Márquez, which initiated a wave of celebrated Latin-American authors providing material for the independent film industry.Ba Kobiho is known for his direction ofSango Malo, Le Grand Blanc de Lambaréné (The Great White Man of Lambarene) and Le Silence de la Forêt (The Silence of the Forest). This year's festival, which is dedicated to the late Egyptian actors Mahmoud El Meleigy and Amina Rizk, included screenings of excerpts of their films last night. El Meleigy is perhaps best known as the villain in Egyptian films, andhas acted in more than a hundred movies including Youssef Chahine's Al Ard (The land). Amina Rizk has appeared in more than 45 films including Doaa el Karawan and Bidaya wa Nihaya. Last nights awards, tributes and recognitions, included: Milad Bassada, the Egyptian film and television director and producerwho is best known for his filmA Quiet Day in Belfast and his comedy SCTV; Khaled Abdallah the Egyptian actor, whose credits include United 93 and The Kite Runner; Egyptian director Fouad Said, who's known for his invention of the Cinemobile, a van that carries cinema equipment, for which he won an Academy Award from the Hollywood Motion Pictures Academy. Others recognised include DOP Ramsis Marzouk, Egyptian actresses Safeya El Emary and Laila Elwy, South Korean actress Yung Jung hee, and the British actor Micheal York. The highlight of the evening, no doubt, was US actor Richard Gere. Taking the stage with charm and a gleaming smile, he said: “Arabic is such a beautiful language and I'm going to butcher it now”, proceeding to attempt a fewwords of Arabic: "Massa'a el kheir, masr…”. Commending the gathering, he said "This orgy of appreciation is really a beautiful thing. There's some magic about movies, no one really knows what it is, where it comes from. It's a very young medium, it was only invented about a hundred years ago, it's very new but it still immediately created this magical connection between people." The ceremony was followed by the screening of the festival's opening film, Mike Leigh's Another Year. The film centres on a happily married couple, Tom and Gerri, and their unhappy set of friends. The British director Leigh has been nominated more than once for an Academy Award and has won several awards including the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival for his film Vera Drake. The first Cairo International Film Festival was founded by late art critic and Journalist Kamel Malakh in 1976. In its 33 editions guests and winners have included Claudia Cardinale, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Lauren, John Malkovich and Marcello Mastroianni and Michelangelo Antonioni.
