Cairo Film Connection announces Jury members and Awards for its 8th edition
Cairo – 5 November 2021: Cairo Film Connection (CFC) reveals the jury members and awards for its eighth edition (December 1st to 5th, 2021), which will run within the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival (November 26 – December 5, 2021).
The jury members include Hania Mroueh, Metropolis Cinema Director in Lebanon, Alice Kharoubi, Programming Director of the Cannes Film Festival Market in France, and Egyptian filmmaker Sherif El-Bandary.
“I am proud to see CFC grow year after year, not only in terms of prize money, but also in terms of quality of Projects. We are seeing the fruit of the previous editions in the great Arab films hitting the festival, and I am sure that this year’s selections will also help many unforgettable films come to life,” said Mohamed Hefzy, President of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF).
“We’re thrilled that Hania Mroueh, Alice Kharoubi and Sherif El-Bandary have accepted to join the jury of CFC for this upcoming edition. Not only are they established industry professionals but they’ve been great and constant supporters of talent from the region.” said Chadi Zeneddine, Head of the Cairo Film Connection.
“Cairo Industry Days has succeeded in becoming an essential stop for the industry, bringing together filmmakers and cinema professionals. We’re very proud to be able to offer an unprecedented amount of awards to some of the best projects in the region and welcome international guests to advise and develop key projects,” added Meriame El Deghedi, Head of Cairo Industry Days.
The Cairo Film Connection also reveals a list of new and returning partners, sponsors, and awards worth of 300,000 USD, a record number since CFC’s inception. 15 features (fiction and nonfiction) in development and post-production phases will pitch their projects come December.
It is worth mentioning that the CFC takes part within the framework of Cairo Industry Days (CID), in partnership with the Arab Cinema Center.
Members from major film institutions, festivals and production companies from across the world, including Thierry Frémaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, are scheduled to join the Cairo Industry Days events. Moreover, delegates from Berlinale, La biennale de Venezia, Visions du Sud-Est, Sarajevo, as well as Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Anonymous Content, AFAC, Netflix, Shahid, Arte, Pyramide, Sony and some established and up-and-coming producers, will attend.
List of Partners, Sponsors and Awards (By alphabetical order)
AH Media Production – $10,000 Cash Award
Arab Cinema Center – In-kind award
The award is an invitation given to the winning project’s producer to attend the Rotterdam Lab, held on the sidelines of the 2021 International Film Festival Rotterdam – IFFR in the Netherlands.
Arab Cinema in Sweden – $5,000 Cash Award & Marketing Campaign
Arabia Pictures – $10,000 Cash
ART – $10,000 Cash
Badya – $10,000 Cash
Clakett – In-Kind award
$5,000 Cash and a subscription-based service offered by Clakett in support for enterprise to manage recruiting talents, assist with allocating production resources, shooting locations, offering a new and unique marketing channel, guaranteeing a new revenue stream and broader reach to your target audience.
Cornerstone – $10,000 Cash Award
Film Independent –
• Virtual Consulting for a fiction feature film project in development
• Virtual Documentary Consulting (project in post-production).
IEFTA – In-kind Award – IEFTA MENTORSHIP AWARD: The IEFTA mentorship program is a focused and intensive initiative that works with the filmmaker and their team from development to distribution.
Lagoonie Film Production – $5,000 Cash Award
MAD Solutions & Ergo – MAD – Ergo, Award: Distribution in the Arab World with a Minimum Guarantee of $50,000
Nation Production – $10,000 Cash Award
New Black – $5,000 Cash Award and Color Grading and Offline Editing Facilities
OSN – $50,000 Licensing Agreement
Rotana – $10,000 Cash
Red Sea Film Festival – $10,000 Cash Award
Sard writing room -$5,000 USD Cash Award and Script Doctoring for a feature fiction project in development
Shahid – $15,000 Cash Award
The Cell – In-kind Award
1- DCP package for a project in the post production
2- Color grading for a project in the post production
3- promotional package to a project in post production (teaser and trailer)
The 43rd Cairo International Film Festival will take place, with all preventive steps made in compliance with Egyptian government and World Health Organization rules to ensure the safety of participating filmmakers, the general audience, and festival personnel.
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most attended festivals in the Arab world and Africa. Furthermore, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations in Paris has accredited it as a category “A” festival, making it the only one in the Arab and African region (FIAPF).
CFC partners and sponsors include the Arab Cinema Center, which will invite one producer from a film project to participate in the Rotterdam Lab. Yet, MAD Solutions and Ergo will distribute the film throughout the Arab World with a minimum guarantee of USD 50,000. Moreover, Badya, ART, Arabia Pictures, and Rotana will each offer a $10,000 cash reward. Furthermore, OSN will offer a USD 50,000 licensing agreement. Likewise, the Cell will provide three unique prizes to the winners: a DCP tape for a post-production project, color correction for a post-production project, and a promotional package for a post-production project that comprises a teaser and trailer.
Among the partners and sponsors is IEFTA which will provide a targeted and intense mentorship programme that will work with the filmmaker and their crew from production through release. On a parallel note, Sard Writing Room will provide a 5,000 USD cash reward as well as script doctoring for a feature fiction project in progress, whilst Film Independent will offer virtual consulting for a fiction feature film project in progress and virtual documentary consulting for a project in post-production phase.
Moreover, New Black will provide a $5,000 cash prize as well as colour grading and offline editing services. Additionally, Lagoonie Film Production will provide a $5,000 cash reward, while AH Media Production will provide a $10,000 cash award to the winner.
Similarly, Red Sea Film Festival and Nation Production will each award a $10,000 cash prize, Shahid platform will offer a $15,000 cash award and Malmo Film Festival will offer a $5,000 cash award and marketing campaign. Additionally, Clackett will also give away a $5,000 cash prize and a free subscription to the App and Cornerstone will offer a $10,000 cash prize.
The Cairo Film Connection provides the perfect opportunity for film producers and directors to connect as well as fund their film projects. CFC puts the film makers in direct contact with experts of the film industry in order to develop their film projects. The film projects are in turn, submitted to a film jury that grants financial support to the awarded film projects.
