♣ The third round of the Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA), founded by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohamed Al-Maktoum in Dubai, will announce its winners on 17 March in a ceremony held at the Dubai International Financial Centre under the slogan “Creating the Future” and gathering over 1,000 guests from around the world. HIPA received 38,203 photographs submitted by talented photographers from around the world under different categories vying for a grand total of US$ 389,000 in awards: Creating the Future, General, Black and White, Street Life and Special Awards. An exhibition of photos by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohamed Al-Maktoum will be held on the fringe of the event. ♠ Al Massah Art Production announced the theatrical release of director Amr Salama's hit Excuse My French at the Guzzo Cinema in Montreal, Canada, on 7 March 2014. Excuse My French grossed LE six million Egyptian in six weeks after its release in Egyptian theatres. Producer Hani Osama, co-founder at The Producers Film, commented, “The film is still reaping massive earnings since its release in theatres six weeks ago, heading the box office as the highest grossing film despite the increasing number of Egyptian and Hollywood film releases. As for the film's release in Canada, this only marks the cornerstone of its theatrical release in several countries as well as its release in a number of Arab countries.” Written and directed by Amr Salama, Excuse My French is produced by the Film Clinic and The Producers Films which runs by producer Hani Osama. It stars Kinda Alloush, Hani Adel, and the talented child Ahmed Dash. ♥ The Cairo Opera House Open Air Theatre saw a celebration of the 80th birthday of actor Abdel-Rahman Abu Zahra, organised by his son. A large number of actors were present: Salah Al-Saadani, Ezzat Al-Alaili, Laila Elwi, Sameh Abdel-Aziz, Fardous Abdel-Hamid, Hassan Youssef, Kamal Abu Rayya, Mohamed Wafik, Nabil Al-Halafawi, Samiha Ayoub. Also present were filmmaker Samir Seif, talk show host Mahmoud Saad and TV presenter Poussy Shalabi. ♥ Due to the quantity and quality of films received — 320 films from 46 African countries — the third Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF, 18-24 March) decided to split the full-length competition into separate narrative and documentary competitions. The festival will open with the Guinea-Bissau director Flora Gomes' The Children's Republic in the presence of Gomes as well as the American star of the film Danny Glover, both of whom — along with Egyptian star Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz — will be honoured for the lifetime's achievement. This year's poster features the late Nelson Mandela. The festival is organised by the Independent Shabab Foundation with support from the ministries of culture, tourism, youth and foreign affairs and in collaboration with the Governorate of Luxor, the Egyptian Film Syndicate and the National Bank of Egypt. This year's narrative jury will be headed by the Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé and include actress and director Naky Sy Savané (Côte d'Ivoire), director Ahmed Rachedi (Algeria), actress Elham Shaheen and cameraman Tarek Al-Telmisani (Egypt). The documentary jury, headed by critic Mahen Bonetti (Sierra Leone), includes producer Pedro Pimenta (Mozambique), director Dawoud Awlad-Syad (Morocco), critic Peter Machen (South Africa) and cameraman Sameh Selim (Egypt). The short film competition jury, including critic Mahrez Karoui (Tunisia), Keith Shiri (Nigeria), scriptwriter Attia Al-Dardiri (Egypt) and filmmaker Amir Ramses (Egypt), will be headed by critic Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda (Congo). A fourth jury headed by novelist Youssef Al-Qaeed and including critic Martin Botha (South Africa), critic Fathi Kharrat (Tunisia), actress Salwa Mohamed Ali and critic Ahmed Fayek (Egypt) will judge a programme of films on freedom held in the name of the late journalist Al-Husseini Abu Deif and featuring work from 17 non-African countries. ♠ The closing ceremony of the 40th Film Association Festival took place at the Art Creativity Centre theatre on the Cairo Opera House grounds. Actor Khaled Abul-Naga, singer-cum-actress Roubi, filmmaker Aiten Amin, screenwriter Mohamed Hefzi, musicians Mounir Al-Wassimi and Hani Mehanna, director Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, TV presenter Amr Al-Leithi, filmmaker Khaled Galal and film critic Tarek Al-Shennawi were all present. The jury of the festival was headed by filmmaker Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and included Ibrahim Al-Mogi, film editor Rahma Mustafa as well as film critics Magda Khairallah and Magdi Kamel. This year the festival honoured the names of the late filmmaker Tawfik Saleh and the late film critic Rafik Al-Sabban while a certificate of appreciation was granted to Shahira Nasser for her film Villa 69. The best film poster went to Tarek Hanafi and Mohamed Gaber for their work on Farsh wi Ghatta (Rags and Tatters), the best costumes award for Asham, the best editing to Emad Maher for Villa 69, the best cinematography to Ahmed Al-Morsi for Al-Hafla (The Party), the best set to Hamdi Abdel-Rahman for Al-Harami wal Abeit (The Thief and the Dork). The ceremony ended with the premier of Al-Me'adia (The Ferry Boat) starring Dorra, Mai Selim, Hani Adel and Ahmed Safwat, directed by Attia Amin and produced by Ahmed Effat. ♣ The Libyan Ambassador to Egypt Fayez Gebril and his wife gave a reception marking the third anniversary of the 17 February Revolution. Present were Minister of Culture Saber Arab, artist Samir Sabri, singer Mohamed Tharwat and diplomats like the Bahraini Ambassador Sheikh Rashed Al-Khalifa, the Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Zamanan, the Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Al-Almi, the Jordanian Ambassador Beshr Al-Khasawana, the Lebanese Ambassador Khaled Ziyada, the Kosovo Ambassador Bakr Ismail, the Saudi Ambassador Ahmed Qattan, the Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari, the Hungarian Ambassador Peter Kveck, the Chinese Ambassador Song Aiguo and his Serbian counterpart Dragon Bisenic. ♥ Kosovo Ambassador to Egypt Bakr Ismail gave a reception at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek marking the sixth National Day of Kosovo. Present were Giza Governor Ali Abdel-Rahman, Presidency Media Advisor Ahmed Al-Meslmani, former prime minister Yehia Al-Gamal, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Al-Almi, Hungarian Ambassador to Egypt Peter Kveck and his Croatian counterpart Darko Javorski. ♣ German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has named Sawsan Chebli, a Muslim of Palestinian extraction born in 1979, the ministry's deputy spokesperson serving under chief spokesman Martin Schäfer. Chebli previously held posts with the Social Democratic Party parliamentary faction and as policy adviser to the Berlin city administration on intercultural issues. She grew up in Berlin's migrant working class neighbourhood of Moabit as the second youngest of 13 children. ♠ The 62nd Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema Film Festival, headed by father Boutros Daniel, concluded its activities in a ceremony at the Nile Hall gathering a huge number of celebrities: actresses Poussy, Elham Shaheen, musician Hani Mehanna and the head of the jury filmmaker Magdi Ahmed Ali. The best film award went to Harag wi Marag (Chaos, Disorder), for which actor Sabri Abdel-Moneim was also awarded, the Best Actor Award went to Khaled Abul-Naga for his role Villa 69, the Best Actress Award to Farah Youssef for her role in Al-Shetta Elli Fatt (Winter of Discontent), the Best Director Award to Said Marzouk. Veteran actor Nour Al-Sherif was honoured for his lifetime's achievement.
