Amidst the film appreciation fever spreading across the Arab world, Cairo hosted its 36 th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) from 9 to 18 November 2014 which took place at several venues from the Cairo Opera House to Al-Hanager Fine Arts Center and the Center of Cinema Civilization. With the presence of over 2000 guests and attendees from all over the world, the festival was launched at El-Mahka Theatre at the Cairo Citadel, while the closing ceremony took place by the Giza Pyramids.

The 36 th CIFF hosted 16 feature-length films which included an eye-catching variety of narrative fictions, documentaries and animations. One of the festival's special features was the MENA Premiere of Palestinian Eyes of a Thief by Najwa Najjar (which has been submitted to represent Palestine in the 2015 Oscars for the Best Foreign Language category). At the closing, film critic Samir Farid, festival president, showed Little England by the world renowned Greek director and screenwriter Pantelis Voulgaris. And to mark the first Egyptian film to screen at this year’s festival, Bab Al-Wadaa (The Gate of Departure) by director Karim Hanafy was awarded the Silver Pyramid for Best Artistic Contribution which went to Director of Photography, Zaki Aref.

Watch The Gate of Departure Trailer:

Watch Little England Trailer:

Out of the 6 International Competition Awards won, the most celebrated was the Silver Pyramid Award for Best Actor which went to Egyptian actor Khaled AbulNaga for his role in the Palestinian feature Eyes of a Thief . In recognition of the potential of Arab Cinema, the Prospect of Arab Cinema Competition had more than one award: Moroccan director, Kamal Kamal, won the Saadeddin Wahba Award and Lebanese director, Zeina Daccache, won the Salah Abou Seif prize worth EGP 50,000 (app. $7000) for her film Scheherazade’s Diary.

Since modern cinema wouldn’t have reached these new heights without the contributions of the older generation, the Naguib Mahfouz/ Golden Pyramid Award honored the work of several key figures. Among the honorees were Moroccan filmmaker, Noureddin Sail, German director, Volker Schlondorff, French auteur, Jack Lang, and Egyptian actress, Nadia Lotfy, whose photo graces the official poster of the 36 th edition of the festival.

Not only did CIFF encourage current actors, script writers and film makers, but it also paid tribute to many pillars of Egyptian cinema who have long parted this world. In commemoration of critic and journalist, Qusai Saleh Darwish, CIFF organized a special tribute seminar that showcased  his many cinematic contributions. In memory of late director, Henry Barakat, and to celebrate his 100 th birth anniversary (1914-2014), an exhibition of photographs and portraits was organized in recognition of his most remarkable works. And of course, CIFF paid respect to the late actress, Mariam Fakhr Eddin, who passed away on the 3 rd November 2014 at the age of 81.

The jury was headed by Egyptian star actress Yousra, making her the first Egyptian jury president in all of CIFF's 36 years. Eight other jury members took part from across the Arab world, Africa, Asia and Europe, with Wang Xiaoshuai as one of the most notable judges.