The current ongoing Palestinian uprising has taken on a major part of this year’s 24th annual Cairo Film Festival, which opens on Tuesday, November 7th, according to Al Khaleej newspaper.
According to the UAE publication, the opening ceremony of the event will consist of a short theatrical documentary on the martyrs of ‘Al Aqsa Intifada,’ and the insistence of the Palestinian youth to grow olive trees, despite Israeli attempts to botch their efforts.
Furthermore, in support for the Palestinian people, the festival has decided to include a film on the famous Palestinian poet Fadwa Touqan to its itinerary.
The movie is entitled Fadwa… A Story of a Palestinian Poet and was directed by Liana Badr in 1999.
Badr, a well known director in the Arab world will also be showing another movie at this year’s festival, entitled Al Zaitouna (The Olive), which talks about an olive tree given to Palestinians by God.
The film depicts that the Israeli army kills all gifts of God, being young children or simple olive trees.
The Egyptian Minister of Culture, Faruq Husni will open the festival, which will be attended to various Egyptian, Arab and international stars, including Italian beauty Sophia Loren, and world renown American actor John Malkovich, who will both be honored for their exceptional work in the field.
This year’s theme is ‘Romance,’ and will be honoring its symbolic figure, the late Egyptian singer Abdul Halim Hafez.
However, other still-living legends, such as Mahmoud Yasine, Nour El Sharif, Najla’a Fathi, Mirvat Amin and others, will also be honored.
Following the small documentary on the ‘Intifada,’ it is scheudled that the winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Award, Dancer in the Dark, directed by Danish Laus Von Triar, will be shown.
Aside from the aforementioned, the festival this year is rich with culture.
The two-week event will include 124 films representing 44 countries; 18 of which are participating in the official contest. The rest of the films will be included in another marginal contest.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
