The opening ceremony of the 38th edition of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF, 15-24 November), headed by Magda Wassef and artistic director Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, will take place on Tuesday at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. The festival opens with Youm Lel Setat (A Day for Women) by Egyptian filmmaker Kamla Abou Zekri, part of the Official Competition. It stars Elham Shahine, Mahmoud Hemeida, Nelly Karim, Eyad Nassar and Nahed El Sebaie. The 105-minute feature is produced by Elham Shahine, with a screenplay by Hanaa Attia and cinematography by Nancy Abdel Fattah. A Day for Women is set in a deprived Egyptian neighbourhood in the course of a 24-hour period during which the swimming pool at the youth sports centre is only open to women. The international jury is headed by German scriptwriter Christian Petzold and includes Egyptian actresses Arwa Gouda and Saba Mubarak, Malian director Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Polish director and scriptwriter Filip Bajon, Egyptian filmmaker Hani Khalifa, Chinese director and scriptwriter Li Yu, American director and scriptwriter Mary Sweeney and Australian producer Robyn Kershaw. The International Competition for Feature and Documentary (Official Selection) includes such films as A Good Wife (Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia) by Mirjana Karanović, Anna's Life (Georgia) by Nino Basilia, Dogs (Romania, France), by Bogdan Mirica, Kills of Wheels (Hungary) by Attila Till and Little Jacoub (Poland) by Maruisz Bienliński. The Out of Competition section includes After the Storm (Japan) by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Graduation (Romania, France) by Christian Mungiu, Florence Foster Jenkins (UK) by Stephen Frears and Ma'rosa (Philippines) by Brillante Mendoza. There are also the Festival of Festivals, International Panorama and Panorama of Egyptian Films sections. 24 Weeks (Germany) by Anne Zohra Berrached, A Decent Man (France) by Emmanuel Finkiel, A Heavy Heart (Germany) by Thomas Stuber, Awaiting (Spain) by Daniela Fejerman and By the Rails (Romania) by Cãtãlin Mitulescu will be screened in the Festival of Festivals, while the International Panorama includes A Footnote in Ballet History (France, Egypt, UK) by Hisham Abdel-Khalek, A Kid (France, Canada) by Philippe Lioret, After Eden (Canada) by Hans Christian, Complete Unknown (USA) by Joshua Marston and Damaged (Poland) by Filip Bajon. The Panorama of Egyptian Films (2015-2016) will screen Abl Zahmet Al-Seif (Before the Summer Crowds) by Mohamed Khan, Khareg Al-Khedma (Out of Order) by Mahmoud Kamel, Sokkar Morr (Bitter Moon) by Hani Khalifa, Eshtebak (Clash) by Mohamed Diab, Nawara by Hala Khalil, Haram Al-Gassad (Sins of the Flesh) by Khaled Al-Haggar, Hepta: The Last Lecture by Hadi Al-Bagouri and Al-Maa Wal Khodra Wal Wagh Al-Hassan (Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces) by Youssri Nasrallah. Other sections include Classic Films – Hamlet (UK, 1948) by Laurence Olivier, Romeo and Juliet (UK, Italy, 1968) by Franco Zeffirelli and King Lear (UK, Denmark, 1971) by Peter Brook – as well as Prospects of Arab Cinema (PAC), Critics' Days and Cinema of Tomorrow International Competition. CIFF pays tribute to the late actress Faten Hamama; the guest of honour is the Chinese cinema, with two programmes: Chinese Classic Films and the Chinese New Era.
