The US Embassy in Cairo will partner this year with the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) which will be held between November 13 and 22.
The embassy has a wide range of activities to carry out during the festival, the most important cinema event in Egypt.
In this interview with Lauren Lovelace, the minister counsellor for public affairs at the embassy, the Egyptian Mail explores the different aspects of US support to the cinema industry in Egypt.
Lovelace also talks about the embassy’s participation in the festival and what it will bring to this prestigious Egyptian cinema event.
– Can you please give us an idea about the nature of participation by the embassy in CIFF?
We are delighted to partner yet again this year with CIFF.
We are very excited to learn that American film director, producer and screenwriter, Steven Spielberg, is going to be featured in this year’s edition of the festival as well as films by well-known American film director, James Ivory. We are so happy to partner with Los Angeles-based non-profit arts organization, Film Independent, which works with many filmmakers, cinematographers and actors across the years, including Egyptians.
We are going to bring director, Holly Morris, and executive producer, Michael Kovnat, who will participate in the Cairo Industry Days Panel to specifically talk about the environment and filmmaking.
We realise that CIFF happens while Egypt hosts the United Nations Climate Conference, widely known as COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh. We are pleased to have that connection between all sponsorships of CIFF. We are bringing these two filmmakers and at the same time talking about the environment.
– What are your other programmes for CIFF?
American cinematographer, Irvin Lui, will hold a workshop during the festival. The workshop will last for five days and bring together 15 Egyptian participants who will focus on inclusion and togetherness. Lui has a lot of experience as an American working in different areas in the US.
We will also support Film Independent in honouring two winners of the Cairo Film Connection by giving them virtual consultations with American filmmakers, including one fiction and one documentary.
– Away from CIFF, how does the US Embassy in Cairo support the cinema industry and art in Egypt?
I have just attended a board meeting of the Fulbright US Student Programme. We are so happy to see how many scholarships are being given to work or study. We give exchange scholarships and do a lot of work in the arts. We sponsor Cairo Jazz Festival. We are doing a project with Egyptian film producer and director, Marianne Khoury, on the making of short films. We bring American films to different parts of Egypt that might not have access to international films.
– What does the US Embassy hope to achieve in this year’s edition of CIFF?
We hope Egyptians will come and engage with the American filmmakers who will be present. We hope people will come and watch films like that of Spielberg and get inspired.
We love to see youth get inspired by filmmakers.
I hope the US foreign policy prospective and its strategic relations with Egypt will help to have some industry cross over. I also hope to see some partnerships between more Egyptians and Americans in the filmmaking process, whether in art direction, film design, cinematography or costume design.
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