The Women International Conference, organised by Adel Hosni, was held at Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel honouring the spouse of Lebanese parliament speaker Randa Al-Berri, maestro Selim Sahab, journalist and TV presenter Wael Al-Ibrashi and a number of society ladies for their distinguished role in serving the community. On the sidelines, the conference honoured the late Faten Hamama while actresses Elham Shahine, Youssra and Samir Sabri paid tribute to Hamama, a silver screen icon who passed away in January. Attending was head of the Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema Father Boutros Daniel, Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziyada, fashion designer Hani Al-Beheiri, head of the National Council for Women Mervat Al-Telawi and writer Iqbal Baraka. The Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt commemorates World Cancer Day on 4 February under the slogan ‘We Can Beat Cancer' featuring Yoga and Chi gong exercises and a lecture explaining the healthy patterns of life, including eating healthy food, exercising and maintaining healthy body weight in addition to the importance of the early diagnosis of the illness. The event was attended by a number of women who had breast cancer. They were accompanied by their families and friends. South Korean Ambassador Chung Kwang-kyun has reaffirmed the deep cultural relationship between Egypt and South Korea, pointing out that the ties culminated last year at the opening of the Korean Cultural Centre in Cairo, the first of its kind in the Arab region. Chung said in his speech addressing participants in Korean Cultural Day held at Masr Public Library in Damanhur that this year will mark the 20th anniversary of full diplomatic relations between the two countries. On the sidelines of Korean Cultural Day, Chung met with new Governor of Beheira Mohamed Sultan to discuss the promotion of cultural relations and reaching “Twin Town” agreements between the cities of the Republic of Korea and Beheira governorate. Korean Cultural Day included several events: a photo exhibition, and a lecture delivered by director of the Korean Cultural Centre Park Jae yang in addition to screening the Korean film 200 Pounds Beauty. ‘The Right to a Clean and Healthy Life: Fundamentals of Environmental Justice' was the name of the 28th Cairo climate talks, reports Nesmahar Sayed. German Ambassador Hansjörg Haber opened the public panel discussion while Egyptian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Khaled Fahmi focused on Article 46 of the 2014 Egyptian constitution which states that every individual has the right to live in a healthy, sound and balanced environment and that its protection is a national duty. It adds that protecting the environment was inextricably linked to basic human rights, a fact that has also been recognised since the 1970s in international treatises on human rights, including the Stockholm Declaration. Head of the Central Department for Climate Change at the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency Hesham Eissa, environmental law expert in the Umweltbundesamt (German Federal Environment Agency) Ralf Becker, environmental researcher for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) Ragia Al-Gerzawi and Hassan Abou Bakr, professor of Biological Control at Cairo University's Faculty of Agriculture discussed all related aspects of the issue. Actresses Dalia Al-Beheiri, Nermine Maher, Emy and writer Hanan Moufid Fawzi attended a fashion show of leather and fur coats by fashion designers Osama Al-Fend and Anne Christen at Sofitel Al-Gezira Hotel. Al-Hanager Art Centre held an honourary ceremony for the late Lady of the Arab Screen Faten Hamama organised by Cinema Critics and Writers' Association in cooperation with Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries headed by Al-Amir Abaza. The ceremony featured the screening of film posters of Hamama, the screen legend who passed away last month, including Siraa Fil Wadi (Struggle in the Valley, 1954), Al-Bab Al-Maftouh (The Open Door, 1964) and Afwah wa Araneb (Mouths and Rabbits, 1977). A large number of actors, writers and film critics were keen to be present at the ceremony, including Mahmoud Yassin, Mahfouz Abdel-Rahman, Sameh Al-Sereiti, Samira Abdel-Aziz, Sameh Youssri, Manal Salama, cinematographer Ramses Marzouk and head of the Actors Syndicate Ashraf Abdel-Ghaffour. Yassin gave a touching address about Hamama, saying that she will be remembered for years to come because of her long journey in cinema in which she left behind more than 100 films. On Sunday, 8 February, Robert Bosch Stiftung, part of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) being held from 5-15 February, announced the three Film Prize winners at an awards ceremony held as part of Berlinale Talents. The Film Prize for the documentary film project went to the Egyptian-German documentary Amal by Mohamed Siam. The Film Prize for the short fiction film project (Jordan-Germany) went to The Parrot by Amjad Al-Rasheed and Darin Salam, while the Film Prize for the Lebanese-German animation film project went to Clean Up The Living Room, We've Got Visitors Coming, directed by Ghassan Halwani and produced by Inka Dewitz. The three prizes are each worth up to 70,000 euros which go to funding the film projects of the winners. Before the winners were announced, 15 nominated teams of German/Arab filmmakers pitched their project idea, each in 15 minutes, to an international jury which had earlier read comprehensive project dossiers. This year's jury was composed of Vincenzo Bugno, Berlinale delegate and World Cinema Fund; George David, director of the Royal Film Commission; Johannes Ebert, general secretary of the Goethe-Institute; Doris Hepp, commissioning editor of ZDF/Arte; Marianne Khoury, director of Misr International Films; Hania Mroué, director of the Metropolis Art Cinema; and Roman Paul at Razor Film Production. The Film Prize targets film co-production between young German filmmakers and their partners from the Arab world. It selects the winning film, as such encouraging cultural exchange. Applying for the competition starts annually in May and ends in September.
