Al Bilad newspaper Ismailia Festival celebrates its silver jubilee – 2024-02-22 16:56:19

• Hussein Bakr: I am fortunate to be the head of the National Film Center during the silver jubilee of the festival

• Issam Zakaria: 121 films from 62 countries, honoring Steve James, Salwa Muhammad Ali and Mahdi Fleifel.

A press conference was held this afternoon at the Hanager Theater in the Cairo Opera House for the Ismailia International Festival for Documentary and Short Films, which is held under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Culture, Dr. Nevin Al-Kilani, in order to announce the details of the 25th session, which will be held from February 28 to March 5, 2024, in the presence of Dr. Khaled Abdel Jalil, Advisor to the Minister. Culture for Cinema Affairs, Dr. Hussein Bakr, head of the National Center for Cinema, film critic Issam Zakaria, president of the festival, and Rami El Metwally, artistic director of the festival, in the presence of representatives of the press and television channels. The conference began with a speech by Dr. Khaled Abdel Jalil, in which he stressed the importance of this session and described it as exceptional, as this session coincides with the celebration. On the silver jubilee of the Ismailia Documentary and Short Film Festival and the 25th anniversary of its establishment, he promised a session worthy of the name of the festival, the Ministry of Culture, and the National Cinema Center.
For his part, Dr. Hussein Bakr welcomed the media figures, journalists and filmmakers present at the conference
He said in his speech: I am happy to be among you today, and I have the good fortune to be president of the National Cinema Center coinciding with the celebration of the silver jubilee of the ancient Ismailia Festival. I assure you that you are waiting for a huge program full of carefully selected films and interesting activities that the festival’s president, the great critic Issam Zakaria, who prepared it, has been working on. Over the course of many months.
Bakr thanked His Excellency the Minister of Culture, Dr. Nevin Al-Kilani, for her support of the festival, and Dr. Khaled Abdel Jalil, for always striving to overcome all obstacles, and everyone who contributed to supporting the establishment of this session.

For his part, critic Issan Zakaria announced the details of the 25th session of the Ismailia Festival, in which 121 films from 62 countries will participate. The feature documentary competition includes 12 films, the short documentary competition includes 20 films, the short fiction competition includes 20 films, and the animation competition includes 18 films, while the student competition includes participation. 17 films.
Zakaria announced the names of the honorees during the 25th session of the Ismailia Festival, saying: There is international, Arab and Egyptian honoring, as the festival honors the American director Steve James, the Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel, and the Egyptian artist Salwa Muhammad Ali.
Zakaria pointed out that a number of centenaries will be celebrated during this session, including the centenary of the pioneer of documentary cinema, director Abdelkader Al-Telmisani, through the screening of 3 of his films, in addition to the issuance of a book by his daughter Mai Al-Telmisani. The centenary of the Ismaili Club will also be celebrated.
It is known that the Ismailia Festival for Documentary and Short Films is held by the National Film Center, headed by Dr. Hussein Bakr, and the 25th session is chaired by critic Issam Zakaria.
The Ismailia Festival is one of the oldest festivals in the Arab world and one of the first festivals specializing in documentary and short films, as its first sessions were launched in 1991.