The Luxor African Film Festival opens its 9th edition by honoring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Zeina, Amr Abdel Geleel, and Maimouna N'Diaye in the "Farid Shawky" edition and a special tribute for the Reda Troupe
* Honoring the names of the late, Aqila Ratib, Ossama Fawzy and Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Attia.
In a pleasant atmosphere in which the fragrance of history mixed with the charm of cinema at the Luxor Temple, the 9th edition of LAFF was inaugurated in the attendance of stars, guests and delegations from all African countries. The ceremony was presented by the star Sana Youssef and the announcer Mona Salman, who welcomed the attendance in Arabic and French.
The opening ceremony attended by screenwriter Sayed Fouad, director Azza El Hosseiny, director of the festival, and international star Jimmy Jean-Louis and Egyptian star Mahmoud Hemeida, honorary president of the festival and African director and actress Maimouna N'Diaye, member of the jury, and star Mustafa Shaban, member of the jury, star Zeina, star Amr Abdel Geleel, Elham Shaheen and director Sherif Mandour, Senegalese director Moussa Toure, Rania Youssef, Salwa Mohamed Ali, Amr El Kadi, Rania Shaheen, broadcaster Boosy Shalaby and director Khaled Galal, the family of the great star Farid Shawky, his wife Soheir Turk and the star Rania Farid Shawqy and director Abeer Farid Shawqy, and the director Omar Abdel Aziz and producer Mohammad El Adl and Salwa Mohamed Ali.
The ceremony started with multiple performances by the Reda Troupe, which is being paid tribute to during the 9th edition for its 60th anniversary, the trophy was received by the director Khaled Galal, head of the Cultural Production Sector.
During his speech, Mahmoud Hemeida spoke about the African continent and its peoples, where he welcomed all the filmmakers of Africa on the land of Luxor, which contains one third of the world's monuments, he was succeeded by Sayed Fouad, the festival president, and in his speech he affirmed his passion for cinema, and spoke of the achievements of LAFF over the past few years till it reached this good level, nearing its first decade, supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Governorate of Luxor, he also thanked all the supporters and sponsors of the festival.
Azza El Hosseiny, director of the festival, spoke about how LAFF matured enough and now speaks to the youth, and noted that the current edition is a special one that bears the name of the late Farid Shawky, she spoke about the various programs and events of the festival, she thanked all the supporting partners of the festival which aids it to achieve its goals and support the industry within the continent.
Moustafa Abdel Kader, deputy governor of Luxor then spoke on behalf of the governor Moustafa Alham due to his previous work schedule, where he greeted the guests by saying: "When the charm of ancient Egyptian civilization crosses the Nile we find Luxor African Film Festival", he also assured the importance of the festival's success and the priority of the Egyptian-African relations, besides the promotion for tourism the festival offers.
Director Khaled Galal, head of the cultural production sector, spoke on behalf of the minister of culture Inas Abdel Dayem, where he He conveyed the minister's greetings to all festival guests, as she welcomed them in Luxor, the capital of history, which hosts the Luxor African Film Festival, which is one of the most important festivals in Egypt that target African cinema, following the footsteps of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s interest in African affairs.
And then the tributes of the opening ceremony, which started with the Reda Troupe on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, and the award was received by director Khaled Galal.
Then came the time to honor a number of the late artists by the festival this year with their names, headed by the great star Farid Shawqy, whose name the edition bears, and his family received their honor, which is his wife Suheir Turk and his two daughters, star Rania Farid Shawqy and director Abeer Farid Shawqy.
Rania thanked the festival management for honoring the name of Farid Shawky, and all of his fans who grew attached to his films, confirming that Farid Shawky was a unique artistic case and was an entire institution in acting, writing and production, he coexisted with all generations and formed friendships with the youngest, for he saw that art as a message that a lot of His works changed laws like "They Made Me a Criminal" and "A Word of Honor".
Then the festival dedicated the edition to the late director Ossama Fawzy, and his sister Afaf Gerges Fawzy received it, and the star Mahmoud Hamidah gave a speech on Ossama Fawzy saying: "Ossama Fawzy is for me a very big thing in my life and I presented with him his first 3 films, and for me he is the most important director of my career as an actor, And the 3 films were the reason for my development as an actor, and communication with him was very easy, as he is one of the biggest directors of Egyptian cinema and his films will remain for eternity". Then came the honoring of the late artist Aqila Ratib, and her granddaughter Gihan Zaki received it, then the Tunisian producer Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Attia was honored and received by the director Mokhtar Ladjimi.
Then came the tribute of a number of other stars, starting with Zeina, who expressed her happiness for being honored by a festival in her country.
The festival also honored African director and star Maimouna N'Diaye, who expressed her happiness by honoring her in Egypt, the country of civilization, history and the city of cinema. Followed by Amr Abdel Geleel who thanked the festival for honoring him, which is the first throughout his career.
The tributes concluded by the international star Jimmy Jean-Louis, he expressed his happiness by the honoring of the festival and his presence in Luxor and concluded the opening ceremony by introducing the family of the opening film "Wonder Box", which is shown within the Long Narrative competition.
