The 12th edition of the Ismailia International Film Festival for short and documentary films kicked off last Wednesday at the Ismailia Cultural Palace with a small ceremony where a rare group of short films directed by legendary Egyptian film-maker Youssef Chahine were screened. "Ei El Mairoon, "Salwa: The Little Girl who Speaks to Cows, "One Step and "Cairo as Told by Youssef Chahine were among Chahine's films screened at the ceremony. Ismailia governor Abdel Gelil El Fakharany and the festival president Ali Abou Shadi inaugurated the eight-day festival. Forty Arab and foreign countries are participating this year with 92 films in the main official competition. Egypt is participating with eight films, the largest number of entries by any country, followed by Spain with six and the US with four. Egypt's competition entries include Sherif El Bendary's "Siesta, Osama El Abd's "Obsession of the Depth, Nadia Kamel's documentary "Oriental Salad and Ahmed Adel's short animation "Male and Female. Highlights of the foreign entries include "1937 (France), "68 Degrees and Clear (US) and "Anna's Road (Spain). Seven Arab countries - Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Tunisia - are present this year. The Arabic competing films include "Monologue (Syria), "The Scene (Syria), "War, Love, God and Madness (Iraq) and "South (Lebanon/Palestine). Prizes for the main competition are divided into five sections: long documentary films, short documentary films, short feature films, experimental short films and animated films. Besides the main competition, four more awards will be granted: Two by the Egyptian Documentary Film Community for best Arabic films, the Egyptian Film Critics Association for best film and the Communication for Development Association for best film tackling women's issues. The festival ends on Oct. 22. For more information, visit the festival's website at http://www.egyptianfilmcenter.org.eg.
