On June 1st 2021, the Cairo International Film Festival announced the opening of submissions for films from all over the world to be selected for the annual event’s 43rd edition, which will take place from 1st-10th December this year.
All films must be submitted by August 31st 2021 and participants can send in their submissions for both short and feature-length films via the official festival website and Film Freeway, which is taking submissions for short films only.
Mohamed Hefzy, producer and president of the Cairo International Film Festival, had also stated that this year’s event will be especially challenging as it comes after several Arab festivals that are taking place consecutively after one another at the end of this year.
Moreover, Hefzy is feeling positive about hosting the film festival in “safer circumstances” despite the COVID-19 pandemic still being rife, as Egypt strives to ensure its citizens and residents are being vaccinated against the virus.
The Cairo International Film Festival’s website reads that the event will do their “best to organize a hygienically safe and artistically superior edition, while complying with all the sanitary measures and regulations set by the Egyptian Government and the World Health Organization.”
Last year’s event featured 95 participating films from 40 countries, of which 20 debuted for the first time. Two films that won 5 Academy Awards collectively earlier this year, “The Father” and “Nomadland,” premiered at the Egypt-based film festival at the 42nd edition.
The Cairo International Film Festival is the oldest international annual festival in the Middle East and North Africa region.
