Following a series of unsuccessful editions of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) that coincided with the rise of emerging festivals in the region, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny has finally petitioned for outside help. Youssef Chahine's highly successful production company, Misr International Films, has been brought to the organizers' table to set up a film market — a major constituent that remains missing from CIFF. The result of the collaboration is the Cairo Film Connection (CFC). By taking advantage of the company's wide, well established connections and reputation abroad, Cairo Film Connection is set to bring some much-needed credibility to the 34th edition of the Middle East's oldest film festival, scheduled for Nov 30–Dec 9 this year. For the attendees of last year's CIFF, the residual impressions left after the fatiguing affair were those of unsatisfied moviegoers: ennui, disappointment and at the very least, apathy. It was not only that certain successful international films were not screened at the festival, but also that films expected to show in Cairo were often missed or cancelled because of simple organizational misadventures, like scheduling errors or technical glitches. Despite its relative decline over the past few years, the festival is still branded with an ‘A' status in the international fest circuit. Therefore, this year represents perhaps one of the last chances for the CIFF to repair its tattered reputation abroad. The likelihood of success rests squarely on the shoulders of CFC, the brainchild of Marianne Khoury, managing partner of Misr International Films and niece of late filmmaker Youssef Chahine. Since its establishment by Chahine in 1972, Misr International Films remains the only film organization in Egypt active in international co-productions. The benefits of coproduction lie in its access to funding for features that might not typically be considered by producers here in Egypt for commercial concerns. For this reason, Khoury is especially well positioned to both understand the necessity of foreign collaboration and the means by which to make the best use of these resources. Last year, at a CIFF press conference, members of the film community were invited to share their comments and suggestions about the festival. Gabriel, Marianne's brother and partner, said that what was sorely missing from the fest was a real market. “All major festivals — Cannes, Dubai — offer a market for producers and directors to interact. This position is a must in a festival. If there is no market, you lose credibility with professionals, filmmakers, with everything. This is the historical issue of the festival,” Marianne Khoury says. Regional competition The other issue is the new-found prominence of other film festivals in the Middle East that have come to overshadow the CIFF, despite the CIFF's much longer history. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai film festivals have been running since 2007 and 2004 respectively, and yet they have both surpassed the Cairo fest in terms of prestige and funding. Dubai specifically has become the biggest hub in the region for Arabic films. According to Khoury, CFC and its counterpart in Dubai, Dubai Film Connection (DFC), will be working together. The DFC said that in past years there has been a dearth of Egyptian submissions, and hopes to overcome this through cooperation with CFC. Khoury says that at least for now, the lack of international participation remain a peculiarity of Egyptian filmmakers. Considering the size of Egypt, it's unsurprising that the market is as self-contained as it is, however films considered “difficult,” and therefore new and interesting, are not produced because they cannot find investors. “In Egypt, filmmakers have been deprived of funding, and they're not used to [competitions like] this. This will help the young filmmakers more, those that have smaller budgets, etc. Dubai and Egypt are not mutually exclusive — one will publicize the other,” she says. To overcome this obstacle, CFC will provide an arena for filmmakers, producers and everyone in between to meet, and hopefully collaborate. The primary objective is to network. To pursue this, CFC is embarking on several different endeavours. First, there is the scriptwriting competition. Ten projects will be selected by an eclectic jury, offering its creators — who must be of Arab nationality or origin and must have previous directing experience — the chance to pitch their projects to key industry figures, both international and regional ones, over a period of three days during the fest. The scripts need to be submitted in both English and Arabic and should include a synopsis, biography and director's notes. The committee is comprised of Egyptian director Samir Seif, acclaimed Lebanese-Iranian-French scriptwriter Jacques Akchoti, independent British producer Sue Austen, French writer Marie-Pierre Muller and Marianne Khoury herself. In addition, a cash prize of $10, 000 courtesy of the Ministry of Culture will be given to one winning script. Selected projects will be premiered at the CIFF. CFC also plans to organize seminars and workshops throughout the festival to provide more activities for film professionals and film buffs alike. Two workshops are currently in the works; one for scriptwriting and the other for post-production. While the workshops are still being organized, Khoury believes that they will provide a useful outlet for younger filmmakers, hopefully to acquire skills and use equipment that might not be readily available to them. What remains to be seen is the success of the venture. Despite the fact that Misr International Films has been given the opportunity to develop the festival, CFC is still very much separate and subordinate to the Cairo International Film Festival, and therefore much falls out of its hands. If everything goes as planned though, Cairo Film Connection will likely inject the fest with a much-needed new blood and could finally lift it from its long-persisting doldrums. For more details on the Cairo Film Connection, visit www.cairofilmconnection.com. A press conference is also scheduled later this month.
