Tomorrow, Friday, the curtain falls on the 46th Cairo International Film Festival, concluding 10 days in which Cairo seemed like two cities at once: one moving to its familiar daily rhythm, and another unfolding within it—its lights shimmering across the Opera House, the Archives Building, the Creativity Centre, and every hall that hosted a screening. For 10 nights, the city’s tempo shifted, reshaped by the presence of filmmakers, producers, stars, critics, journalists, students, and crowds of cinephiles who turned each auditorium into a window onto another world.
From the festival’s opening moments, it was clear that the event intended not only to celebrate cinema, but to grapple with wider questions: How is cinema evolving? How do audiences receive images today? And how will this art form shape the contours of the future in a world that changes daily? For this reason, audiences were not passive observers but participants in a broader artistic conversation. Every post-screening discussion became part of the festival’s soul, and every exchange in the Opera House courtyard added depth to what unfolded on screen.
This edition acquired a distinctive character thanks to the diversity of its selections and the strong presence of a new wave of Arab cinema—films that no longer arrive seeking validation, but come knowing their worth, competing confidently alongside major international works. The programme also witnessed the powerful return of restored classics and a series of tributes honouring figures who shaped the memory of Egyptian and Arab cinema.
At the Core: Where the Festival’s Competitive Pulse Beats Strongest
At the heart of this vibrant edition lie the official competitions—the festival’s restless centre. They are not simply lists of films but the point at which all the aesthetic and thematic threads converge. The competitions act as a finely tuned compass, gauging the state of world cinema, tracing artistic shifts, and revealing new directions in storytelling, directing, and cinematography.
This year’s competitive sections took on an unusually intense character. It was not the number of films that made the difference, but their calibre, which created such close artistic proximity that comparing them became a daunting task. Several jury members spoke of their admiration for the diversity of perspectives, describing this edition as a “golden year” in terms of quality.
That competitive energy extended to audiences as well. Most screenings ran at full capacity, with viewers queueing hours before doors opened. This enthusiasm, in itself, is a testament to the festival’s success, reaffirming that Egyptian audiences remain deeply devoted to cinema—not merely as entertainment, but as a living art that provokes thought, debate, and wonder.
The International Competition: 14 Films in the Race for the Golden Pyramid
At the summit of the festival’s programmes stands the International Competition, its most prestigious showcase. This year, 14 films contend for the Golden Pyramid, each bearing the signature of a director approaching cinema from a distinct vantage point. Some works emerge from established cinematic traditions; others represent confident new voices. Some are rooted in painful lived experience; others lean toward speculative imagination or bold visual experimentation.
The jury is chaired by acclaimed Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, known for contemplative, visually poetic cinema. He is joined by Italian editor Simona Paggi; Chinese director Guan Hu; Egyptian director Nadine Khan; Egyptian actress Basma; Tunisian filmmaker Leyla Bouzid; and Romanian director Bogdan Mureşanu.
The panel faced an exceptionally difficult task. Comparing a film built on rigorous dramatic structure with another driven by experimental narrative language is no simple undertaking. Some days, the committee remarked, were among the most challenging of their judging careers because of the closeness in quality. Among the selections were films probing identity with nuance, others exploring layers of the human psyche, and still others presenting inventive visual vocabularies or rethinking traditional storytelling forms.
This exceptional range made the International Competition not merely a race for awards, but a rare space for reading the trajectories of contemporary cinema. Several screenings reinforced the sense that global filmmaking is moving toward greater boldness in raising difficult questions, and toward more urgent explorations of the human condition in an increasingly complex world. At the same time, some entries revived classical aesthetics with modern sensibilities, reaffirming that cinema never truly abandons its roots, even as technologies evolve.
Across the Festival Landscape: Programmes of Discovery
The festival’s energy was not confined to the main competition. Other sections together created a rich mosaic of artistic expression.
In the Horizons of Arab Cinema programme, films captured the pulse of the region with its political, social, and cultural complexities. Some young filmmakers fused documentary with fiction, while others reimagined reality through imagery that resisted convention.
The International Critics’ Week served as a platform for discovering emerging voices, featuring debut and second features by directors navigating their early creative anxieties and ambitions. Despite modest budgets, many of these films delivered striking authenticity and moments of remarkable emotional and visual resonance.
The Feature Documentary section presented works that delved deeply into lived reality, leaving lasting emotional impressions—particularly on issues of environment, identity, displacement, and human conflict. It once again demonstrated that documentary cinema has evolved far beyond reportage into one of the most compelling and innovative cinematic forms.
Equally noteworthy were the restoration programmes, which revived films from Egyptian, Arab, and international archives. These screenings offered younger audiences the chance to experience classics long unavailable on the big screen. Packed halls testified once more to the enduring magic of cinematic memory.
A Living Festival: Where Glamour Meets Genuine Exchange
Audiences always look forward to the red carpet, where stars shine. But this year, the carpet was more than spectacle—it became a space for quick exchanges and candid remarks reflecting filmmakers’ appreciation for the festival and their connection to it. The strong presence of Arab stars—whether as jurors, competitors, or participants in special screenings—was particularly striking.
Egyptian stars, too, appeared in force—not only to celebrate, but with a genuine sense of engagement in a cinematic landscape striving to evolve and reclaim its global standing. Many took part in public talks addressing industry challenges, the rise of digital platforms, and shifting audience tastes.
Tomorrow’s Finale Marks a Beginning, Not an End
When the lights dim tomorrow and the winners are announced, it will not mark the end of the festival, but the beginning of another journey. The questions raised by these films will linger; the new faces discovered this year will return with greater force; and conversations whispered behind the scenes will grow into future projects.
The curtain will fall tomorrow—but what unfolded during these days will endure. For the Cairo International Film Festival has been not merely a celebration, but a mirror reflecting a cinema in renewal, an audience hungry for art, and an industry seeking a broader path and deeper place in a world that changes every day.
