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Actor Hussein Fahmi, President of Cairo International Film Festival, participated in a panel discussion titled « Business Unusual: Growth and Innovation in a Changing Landscape, » held at the Arab Cinema Center pavilion during the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
The session was moderated by Michael Rosser, Asia and Middle East Editor at Screen International. The list of speakers, alongside the President of Cairo International Film Festival, included Alaa Karkouti, CEO of MAD Solutions and Arab Cinema Center; Zaid Shaker, Acting Executive Director of Film AlUla; Bavi Yassin, Founder and Chairperson of Kurdistan Film Commission; and Jihad Jay Abdo, CEO of National Film Organization in Damascus.
The session discussed the challenges facing the film industry in the region, including the concerns of some entities and individuals abroad due to forming inaccurate ideas about the existence of major crises, and their lack of awareness that life proceeds normally. Attendees touched upon the audience’s impact on the type of content screened, viewers’ tendency to search for comedies, and emphasized the urgent need to open new topics that keep pace with these changes.
In his speech during the session, actor Hussein Fahmi reviewed the rapid transformations witnessed by the cinema sector, warning that theaters are closing down in Egypt and all over the world, saying: « Things have moved tremendously, and we no longer know who the audience is due to the lack of direct interaction with them. The general mood has changed, and we must understand that the public is affected enormously, economically and politically. You can produce a movie, and by the time you screen it six or seven months later, things have changed in society. »
*About Cairo International Film Festival*
Cairo International Film Festival was established in 1976 and is held annually under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. It is classified among Category A international festivals and holds official accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), making it the only festival in the Arab world and Africa to obtain this prestigious accreditation
