Cairo Film Festival Launches New Market to Foster International Co-Productions

For the first time in more than a decade, the Cairo Film Festival will open for business.

Now kicking off its 45^th edition, the Egyptian event has remained a key cultural and artistic showcase for the region and for the wider Middle East and North Africa world – but Cairo has gone without a market since scuppering that component after the country’s 2011 revolution.

Soon, that’s all about to change.

“This is the best time to reintroduce the market, because the whole of the Egyptian industry needs it very much,” says Cairo head of industry Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rehim. “So many of our filmmakers and technicians now find work in Saudi Arabia, so we want to bring more projects to Egypt and to engage more filmmakers from abroad.”

Held as part of the Cairo Industry Days, and set to open on Nov. 15, Cairo’s streamlined and revamped market will primarily feature Egyptian, Saudi and Chinese outfits, welcoming each and all with a central focus on bridge building.

“We’re looking to fill in some gaps,” says artistic director Essam Zakarea. “We cannot liken this to the markets of Cannes or Berlin, so maybe it’s better to call it a meeting point. We’re trying to push the cooperation between the Egyptian, Arab and international film industries by gathering all those people to meet and discuss co-production opportunities.”

Looking to best seize this platform, the eight participating companies will make daily announcements highlighting new projects, initiatives and collaborations, while market organizers will spotlight a number of startups connecting cinema with tech. In order to expand, the film market will build on Cairo’s extant partnerships with festivals in Durban and Beijing, while looking to attract visiting delegates from the European industry.

Welcoming international shoots will be a major touchstone. As the festival screens recent, locally shot titles like Tamer Ruggli’s “Back to Alexandria” and Neil Burger’s “Inheritance” as part of a Made in Egypt showcase, delegates from the Egyptian Film Commission will be on-hand to tout the benefits of the country’s production infrastructure.

Above all, event coordinator Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rehim hopes to channel wider Cairo Industry Days delegates – and, beyond that, Cairo Film Festival invitees – towards greater market participation in the years to come.

“Cairo has a much bigger audience than most other festivals,” he says. “Thousands of people attend every day to watch films, and thousands of industry people come to Egypt [so we can facilitate access] with many, many industry professionals that are interested in Arab cinema and filmmakers… So now we’re trying to connect everyone with one another in order to make this market more productive for all.”

Running concurrent to the film market is the Cairo Film Connection. Now entering its 10^th edition, the Cairo Industry Days initiative welcomes international financiers, producers and sales agents to help assist projects in need of development and completion support. This year’s program showcases 18 titles from across the MENA region – marking an across the board increase in sections.

“To celebrate a decade of supporting Arab filmmakers, we’ve chosen to include one additional project per category in this year’s edition,” said incoming Cairo Film Connection director Rodrigo Brum in a statement.

“This expansion not only reflects the high quality of the applications but also the diversity of ideas and creative approaches that capture the current dynamics of Arab cinema, both within the region and the diaspora. Together with our partners and sponsors, we look forward to an exceptional and celebratory edition.”

Of the 18 projects selected for this year’s edition, six stem from Egypt, with Tunisia, Iraq, and Lebanon all delivering two each alongside individual titles from Kuwait, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Algeria.  

Previous laureates include Amjad Al Rasheed’s “Inshallah a Boy,” which premiered out of Cannes Critics Week in 2023, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” which won Cannes’ Œil d’Or and was nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards earlier this year.