CAIRO: The Cairo International Film Festival kicked off its 33rd edition on Tuesday evening to a sporadic display of fireworks along the Nile, but little fanfare is surrounding this year's festival as moviegoers are not expected to be greeted with more than a handful of prominent big names and curtain calls. Although India is the event's special guest of honor this year, the large number of first or second time filmmakers have critics skeptical of the success of the festival, which in year's past has honored fabled Hollywood actors Morgan Freeman, Harvey Keitel and Susan Sarandon. Salma Hayek has already made her rounds at the Pyramids, but her lack of international status as a leading lady has some questioning her choice. The Cairo festival is the Middle East’s first and longest running film festival, conceived in 1976 by Kamal El Mallakh and colleagues. Each year the festival selects a country or region in order to highlight its film industry. “It just seems weird to have her as the special guest that everyone is supposed to know. It is not like she is a great actor. We are falling off as the region's premier festival to other countries, such as the Emirates or even Qatar,” said Omar Hussein, a journalist who is planning to cover the festival for the first time. On Monday, only one day before the festival was to open, the official government-run website finally uploaded a listing of films to be shown, times and places that will show the movies, leaving many worried that the festival's organization shows a massive lack of skill. “More than any previous rounds, the 33rd edition is comprised of first and second films by filmmakers from around the world. And while it’s always exciting to detect new works and talents — that is the fundamental strong point of CIFF — it also means that the official selection could be a hit or miss,” film guru Joseph Fahim wrote in his Daily News Egypt column on the inauguration of this year's festival. He is not excited. Fahim has been skeptical of the film festival in recent years. He criticized the organization of the festival, saying it shows an inability to move Cairo up on the list of international destinations for art and cinema. Despite the criticism of the festival, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said on the official website that “once again Cairo is ready to celebrate the fine art of cinema,” pointing out that the festival is the oldest one in the region. “We extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to them and to all festivals, hoping that the exchange of ideas and concepts will be beneficial to all,” said Hosni. According to the organizing committee, 42 films out of 150 movies from 67 countries and regions, including 11 movies from six Arab states, will take part in the competition portions of the event. Some 25 Indian movies will be screened during the festival. India was invited by the organizer for its film “Slumdog Millionaire” that won eight Academy Awards. It is also the producer of the opening film of the festival, “New York.” The competition was classified into three units: international competition for long feature films, international digital competition and Arab film competition. A series of symposiums on film industry, regional and international cooperation will be held during the 11-day event, which will last till Nov. 20. Films making the most noise ahead of this year’s screenings are the Indian film “New York,†the Palestinian-American film “Amreeka†and “Cairo Time†which concluded the Doha Tribeca Film Festival that ended November 1 in Qatar. **Cairo Film Festival complete schedule BM
