This year marks the 11th round of the Panorama of European Film (7-17 November), an annual event that film buffs impatiently anticipate, writes Soha Hesham. Launched in 2004 by the Zawya Art House, the event provides a carefully curated programme of award-winning and significant art house films from Europe. Starting in Cairo, it has proved so successful it expanded to other cities in Egypt. Zawya director, producer-filmmaker Marianne Khoury announced the event at the downtown Karim Cinema, the new Zawya headquarters, last Wednesday. This year the Panorama features films from 26 countries including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Ukraine, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Iceland. The programme, selected by a committee that brought together filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky (Yomeddine), cinematographer Abdel-Salam Moussa and screenwriter Mariam Naoum, includes seven sections: Main Narrative Features, Emerging Directors, Documentary Rendez Vous, Carte Blanche, Ingmar Bergman Retrospective and, newly introduced, Surrealist Cinema and Children and Family. the 11th round of the Panorama of European Film Highlights include the Palme d'Or nominated At War directed by Stéphane Brizé, the Cannes Best Director Award-winning Cold War by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski, the Cannes Best Actor Award-winning Dogman by Matteo Garrone and the Palme d'Or winner The Image Book by Jean-Luc Godard, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree, Kirill Serebrennikov's Summer and Gustav Möller's The Guilty. The Carte Blanche section includes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) by Julian Schnabel, Underground (2005) by Emir Kusturica and The White Ribbon (2009) by Michael Haneke. Surrealist Cinema includes The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) by Luis Buñuel, Endless Poetry (2016) by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Holy Motors (2012) by Leos Carax and Stalker (1979) by Andrei Tarkovsky. The Bergman retrospective features four films: The Seventh Seal, Autumn Sonata, Persona and Wild Strawberries. Screenings will take place at Zawya and the Zamalek Cinema and other venues including the French Cultural Institute and the Goethe Institute as well as in Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said, Assiut, Damietta, Mansoura, Minya, Qena and Zagazig. With the Panorama being held under the auspices of the Egyptian Film Centre, Zawya's event partners this year include New Century, Zamalek Cinema, El Gouna City, the European Union, the British Council, the Goethe Institute, the French Cultural Institute, the Italian Cultural Centre and the embassies of Ireland, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal and Belgium as well as Le Monde, TV5, France 24, elCinema.com, Fasla Website, Nile FM, CairoScene and the Monte Carlo radio.
