The 47th Cairo International Film Festival opens on Wednesday, November 11. It runs until Friday, November 20, at the Cairo Opera House. Ahead of the opening, its industry platform has revealed an important list. Cairo Film Connection has selected 16 Arab projects for its 12th edition. Together, they offer an early look at where Arab cinema is heading.
A Festival With Deep Roots
The festival launched in 1976. It is the only international competitive feature film festival in Africa and the Arab world accredited by FIAPF as a category A festival. Actor Hussein Fahmy serves as festival president. This year, according to Fahmy, the Opera House becomes the festival’s permanent headquarters.
The competition’s top prize is the Golden Pyramid for Best Film, worth $7,000. The Silver Pyramid for Best Director carries $5,000, and the Bronze Pyramid carries $3,000. The festival also presents the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay. In addition, the Faten Hamama Excellence Award honours distinguished film figures. The full programme has not been published yet. That includes the opening and closing films, the jury, and the honorary awards. Rio Times reports a press conference is expected on October 12.
Chosen From 193 Submissions
Cairo Film Connection selected its 16 projects from 193 submissions from 15 Arab countries. Nine are fiction projects in development. Four are non-fiction projects in development, and three are non-fiction projects in post-production. A committee of filmmakers and producers made the selection. It included Basma Ahmed, Noha Adel, Marwan El-Shafei, Nada Riyadh, and Sameh Gamal.
The Fiction Projects
Several well-known names appear on the list. Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury brings Dear Tarkovsky. Egyptian director Ahmed Fawzi Saleh presents Reda. Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji submits Madness and Honey Days. Moreover, Yemeni filmmaker Mariam AlDhubhani presents Naydalaan, a Yemen-Jordan co-production.
Egyptian director Mohamed Siam brings The Schoolyard, a co-production with Belgium. Iraqi filmmaker Zhino Hadi Hassan presents A Special Night. Saudi director Ali Saeed submits In the Land of Lavender. In addition, Egyptian filmmaker Naji Ismail brings The Man Who Is Gone. Finally, Yahya Alabdallah’s Unclear Number is a co-production between Jordan, Iraq, and Luxembourg.
The Non-Fiction Projects
Non-fiction filmmaking has a strong presence as well. In development, Egyptian filmmaker Manal Khaled brings Come Out, Ateyyat. Tunisian director Oumaima Trabelsi presents Terminus. Palestinian filmmaker Shayma’ Awawdeh submits The Story of the Mountain, and Lebanon’s Jöelle Abou Chabké brings Twelve Fig Leaves.
Three more projects seek post-production support. Egyptian director Sally Abobasha presents A Butterfly Hug. Syrian filmmaker Khaled Alswidan submits Amal. Syrian director Anas Zwahri brings Disappeared, which involves Syria, France, Lebanon and Qatar. Overall, Egypt leads with five projects.
A Platform With a Track Record
Cairo Film Connection was founded in 2010 and relaunched in 2018. According to the festival, it has selected 169 projects from 15 Arab countries. Of these, 60 have launched at major international festivals. Its alumni include Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated Four Daughters and Ayten Amin’s Souad. In addition, Amjad Al Rasheed’s Inshallah a Boy became the first Jordanian feature in Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
Recent success continues the pattern. Mohanad Yaqubi’s Revolutionaries Never Die was selected for the official competition at Locarno in 2026. Rania Rafei’s Day of Wrath: Tales from Tripoli premiered at the Berlinale. Both came from the 2025 selection. That edition offered nearly $300,000 in cash and in-kind awards.
One Month to Go
With a month to go, the countdown begins. Filmmakers will pitch to producers, financiers and distributors during Cairo Industry Days. The winning projects will be announced during the festival. In the meantime, the lineup shows the range of stories now emerging from the region.
