Founded in 1976 by the writer Kamal Al-Mallakh and accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, writes Hani Mustafa, the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) remains among the most significant in the Middle East. And this year it lived up to its brief of providing the widest variety of interesting and innovative films from all over the world. Of the 150 films on offer, the Egyptian viewer had the opportunity to see some of the most important award winners in this year's major festivals through the Festival of Festivals programme: the French filmmaker Jacques Audiard's Dheepan, the Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude's Aferim! and the Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Journey to the Beach, for example, which won Cannes's Palme d'Or, the Berlinale's Silver Bear and Cannes's Un Certain Regard prize, respectively. There were two World War II films: the Estonian filmmaker Elmo Nuganen's 1944, which was nominated for an Oscar, and Italian filmmaker Giulio Ricciarelli's German film Labyrinth of Lies. The Iraqi filmmaker Samir's Swiss film Iraqi Odyssey, Switzerland's Oscar nomination, was screened, so was the Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olimi's World War I film Greenery Will Bloom Again. There were also plenty of newly restored classics: Jacques Baratier's 1958 Goha, Omar Sharif's debut and Lucchino Visconti's 1963 The Leopard. With so many opportunities, the 37th CIFF was nonetheless marred by some organisational issues: tickets were sold in the form of five- or ten-film coupons with no option to attend a single film, for example, and no information about the time or venue of the screening – something that could result in some halls overflowing while others had no viewers at all. THE 37TH CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS Best Artistic Contribution Award: “The High Sun” by Dalibor Matanic. Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Best Screenplay: “The Treasure” by Corneliu Porumboiu. Best Actress Award: Louise Bourgoin, “I am a Soldier” by Laurent Lariviere, while Best Actor Award: Koudous Seihoun, “Mediterranea” by Jonas Carpignano. Bronze Pyramid for Best First or Second Work: “Paulina” by Santiago Mitre. Silver Pyramid-Special Jury Prize: “Virgin Mountain” by Dagur Kári. Golden Pyramid: “Mediterranea” by Jonas Carpignano. PARALLEL PROGRAMME AWARDS Cinema of Tomorrow Youssef Chahine Award: “Euroman” by Gavriil Tzafkas. Cinema of Tomorrow Student (Mohamed Karim) Award: “Highway” by Rhona Mühlebach. Cinema of Tomorrow Special Mentions: “Milky Brother” by Vahram Mkhitaryan; “The Land of Nod” by Mariana Flores. Critics Week Shady Abdel-Salam Award: “The Red Spider” by Marcin Koszalka. Critics Week Fathi Farag Award: “Exotica, Erotica, Etc” by Evangelia Kranicti. Arab Horizons Saadeddin Wahba Award: “The Sleeping Tree” by Mohamed Ben Rashed. Arab Horizons Salah Abu Seif Award: “Waiting for Autumn” directed by Joud Said. Arab Horizons Certificate of Appreciation: “In a Day” by Karim Shaban. Nadine Shams Association Screenwriting Award: “Today and Everyday” by Mohamed Abdel-Rahman (first award); “Day, Outdoors” by Ahmed Essam Al-Shamaa (second award); “Last Day of Ramadan” by Emad Mabrouk (third award).
