LUXOR, Upper Egypt – The 12th Luxor African Film Festival concluded activities by announcing awards of its various competitions in the great southern Egyptian city of Luxor with the attendance of dozens of celebrities, filmmakers and critics.
The Luxor African Film Festival represents a return and celebration of our African identity through the seventh art, the screen that takes us to reality as it takes us to dreams.
Scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, the President of the Festival said the LAFF hosted screenings of over 55 films over the past six days representing countries participating in its various competitions and parallel programs, as well as a number of talks and seminars.
On the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the Festival, Egypt, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire sign a cooperation protocol to restore African movies and revive African film heritage.
Egyptian actor Mahmoud Hemeida, the president of honor of the Festival, described the protocol as the fruit of coordination and cooperation among Africans to produce films with the objective of fostering African bonds.
“I wish upcoming editions will eye other steps for cooperation to produce African films,” added Hemeida.
A number of late artists were also celebrated, including Egyptian actor Salah Mansour, Algerian actress Chafia Boudraa, and Tunisian actor Hichem Rostom.
LAFF paid tribute to Senegalese cinema and its filmmakers, as Senegal is the country guest of honor for this edition.
Under the helm of the LAFF founder, scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, the festival hosted 10 cinema workshops in different disciplines.
Many prominent African filmmakers and actors are members of the various juries.
With 12 films competing, the long narrative and documentary film jury committee comprises Senegalese director Mansour Sora Wade, Tunisian director Sonia Chamkhi, Moroccan actress Amal Ayouch, Egyptian screenwriter Abdel-Rahim Kamal, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy.
The slogan of LAFF’s 12th edition is “Cinema is the Quest of Immortality.”
This slogan is reflected in the festival’s poster design by Mahmoud Ismail Abou Al-Enin, which depicts boats sailing towards the sun and to the Nile’s West bank of Luxor, where funerary temples and tombs are filled with inscriptions representing ancient beliefs in eternal life after death.
With Filmmaker Azza Elhosseiny as LAFF’s co-founder and executive director, star Mahmoud Hemeida continues as the honorary president in this edition.
Since its founding, the festival has aimed “to spread awareness about the importance of cinema in Africa and the world.”
The LAFF is organized by the Independent Shabab Foundation with the support of the Egyptian ministries of culture, tourism and antiquities.
LAFF also takes place in cooperation with Luxor governorate, the Film Syndicate, and numerous sponsors.
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