Cairo – Archyde.com
The Luxor African Film Festival honored Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the opening of its eleventh session, which started on Friday evening, in southern Egypt.
After receiving the honor, Fahmy said: “Having a festival representing African cinema in this great city, Luxor, is a great thing and we are proud of it. Year following year”.
In the opening, the festival honored Algerian actress Bayouna, director Apollin Traore from Burkina Faso, and Egyptian actor Amr Saad, who was absent from the ceremony and received the honor by his son, Rabi.
The opening activities began following sunset on the banks of the Nile, in a carnival atmosphere, with the participation of the Luxor Folk Instruments Band, which accompanied the festival guests from their residence to the conference hall. Where is the ceremony.
Scriptwriter Sayed Fouad, head of the festival, said: “A second decade of the festival begins today… I feel that the festival has grown and needs bigger moves and more support.”
He added, “40% of the films this year are shown internationally for the first time, and the program is full of activities directed at the local audience, which is the biggest supporter of the festival.”
The session, which continues until March 10, raises the slogan “Rediscover Egypt.” The festival is organizing an expanded symposium within its program of activities under this title to discuss how to support and facilitate the portrayal of foreign cinematographic works in Egypt.
The festival dedicates this edition to the spirit of the Egyptian actress and singer Hoda Sultan (1925-2006), the spirit of the Egyptian actor Mahmoud Morsi (1923-2004), the spirit of the Moroccan director Mohamed Ismail (1951-2021), as well as the Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambite, whose name the session bears.
45 films are competing for prizes in four competitions: the Feature Film Competition, which includes ten films, the Short Film Competition, which includes 15 films, the Documentary Film Competition, which includes 11 films, and the Diaspora competition for films by African directors residing outside the continent, which includes nine films. .
The festival will also screen six films outside the official competition from Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Burkina Faso, in addition to five films from the latest Egyptian cinema productions.
In addition to film screenings and seminars, the festival, which is organized by the Independent Artists Youth Foundation, holds ten specialized training workshops for the people of Luxor in directing and acting, in addition to organizing three various art exhibitions.
Daily Archives
March 4, 2022
The ardent praise of freedom by Francois Sureau in his acceptance speech at the French Academy
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Lawyer and writer François Sureau, born in 1957, a staunch defender of public liberties and a detractor of state authoritarianism, was received at the French Academy on Thursday, March 3rd. He will occupy the 24th seat of the French Academy, which has housed prestigious figures in the history of France, from Colbert to Jean-François Revel, to La Fontaine, Marivaux, Poincaré and many others.
François Sureau, 64, enarque, lawyer, writer, reserve colonel of the Foreign Legion, was elected to this seat left vacant by the death of Max Gallo (1932-2017), to whom he will pay a vibrant tribute at the same time as he will crush the retreat of the freedoms which are so dear to him.
A strong extract from his vibrant speech:
“Meaning disappears from the institutions that our history has bequeathed to us (…) No, I do not believe that this disciple of Voltaire and Hugo would be happy with the state we are in, each appealing to the government, to the prosecutors, to information societies to prohibit opinions that hurt them (…); where government and Parliament together claim, as if France had not exceeded the legal minority, to banish from it all hatred, forgetting that there are just hatreds and that the Republic was founded on the hatred of tyrants. Freedom is to be revolted, hurt, at least surprised, by contrary opinions. No one would like to live in a country where institutions that are generally failing in their essential functions, that of representation like those of action, would revenge themselves by telling us what to think, how to speak, when to be silent. Gallo had sensed it. And since he clearly saw that we were ultimately responsible for it, and not the only rulers, he believed that patriotism, the flame of which he had proposed to rekindle, would save us from such a decline by making us somehow kind to ourselves. »
Direct attacks and a destroyed bridge have slowed Russian convoy advance on Kyiv, US defense official says
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
The Ukrainian delegation participating in talks with Russia “understands the motives” of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office said Friday, adding that while the Ukrainian side is aware of “where [Russia] wants to go,” concessions won’t be made on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Speaking during a press briefing in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, Mykhailo Podoliak said that Ukraine’s position is being “boosted” by western partners, adding that President Volodymyr Zelensky “is definitely not going to make any concessions that would diminish our territorial integrity and freedom.”
“The position of the Russian Federation is harsh — if it were easy, they wouldn’t attack Ukraine — but the position of the Ukrainian Chief of the Armed Forces is also harsh. The negotiations are difficult but they are taking place,” Podoliak added.
The press briefing comes a day following the second round of talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Belarus. In a tweet on Thursday, Podoliak said the talks did not deliver the results sought by Ukraine, though the delegations were able to reach a “solution only for the organization of humanitarian corridors.”
Speaking on Friday, David Arakhamia — a senior official of Ukraine’s governing party who also participated in the talks — said that Zelensky has not made an official request for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that it remains “too early” and that further negotiations are needed before they speak.
Arakhamia also noted that Russia is facing increased “pressure” from the wider international community over attacks by Russian forces on civilian areas in Ukraine.
Pressed on Russia’s attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Arakhamia said that Ukrainian negotiators suggested a 30-kilometer conflict-free zone around all nuclear facilities in Ukraine during talks on Thursday, “and then immediately Zap happened.”
The factor that brings the renewal of Ousmane Dembélé with Barça closer
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Ousmane Dembélé continues to star in many of the headlines of the FC Barcelona. The Frenchman’s contract ends on June 30 this year and he has not yet decided (or announced) where he will go following completing his time at the Camp Nou. In the meantime, He is part of Xavi Hernández’s plans and will play when appropriate, aware that it might be important to ‘shake up’ the team (as happened once morest Athletic). However, his future might have an unexpected script change.
It is not a secret that the factor that completely broke down the negotiations between ‘Dembouz’ and the Barça leaders was the economic one. The player’s agent came to ask for astronomical figures that the Camp Nou were not going to pay. He stood on a salary of 200 million euros for the next five courses (regarding 40 gross ‘kilos’ per season, 20 net).
In addition to that, the Frenchman asked for another 40 ‘kilos’ of commissions to renew his agreement, half for him and the other 20 million for his agent. Barça rejected the possibility and Dembele decided that it was not going to renew, but everything seems to indicate that, for the time being, the international with France has no plan B or team to join as of July 1when he will stop being part of the Barça dynamic… Something that would ‘force’ him to give his arm to twist with the Catalans?
‘SPORT’ has reported that two of the clubs that sounded like a possible destination, Juventus and Chelsea, have dropped out of the bidding for the signing due to economic demands of Dembélé and his environment. As in Can Barça, they are not willing to offer him an annual salary of 40 million euros… far from it.
Likewise, Juventus have had more reasons to step aside. They do not want to forge an enmity with the culé entity (being ‘partners’ in the Superliga) and, despite the fact that they were very interested in the ‘Mosquito’, they consider that the signing of Dusan Vlahovic and the possible renewal of Paulo Dybala is enough to ‘keep’ the Bianconeri team’s attack alive.
Chelsea, on the other hand, is going through a very delicate moment following Roman Abramovich will announce his departure from the club and its sale. It is unlikely that the ‘blue’ team will enter the bid for any player in the short term, so any operation will remain on ‘stand by’. In January, they were one of the first to take an interest in Dembélé.
Complicated situation for ‘Dembouz’
Bayern and PSG have already announced that they have no intentions (for now) of signing the Frenchman. Manchester United, on the other hand, still have serious options to acquire the player’s services, despite the fact that in January they flatly denied any type of negotiation with Vernon’s. It remains to be confirmed, in any case, if they will accept the economic conditions set by the French.
Thus, the way has been opened for a hypothetical renewal of Dembélé with Barça. That yes, in ‘SPORT’ recognize that they will be attentive to all the steps and they will not give ground with Moussa Sissoko, with whom they are very angry following all the hell that the negotiation entailed in recent months.