Today, Monday, November 17, the film Thuraya Habibi directed by Nicolas Khoury will have its world premiere as part of the International Competition at the 46th Cairo International Film Festival. The screening will take place at 6:00 PM on the Grand Theatre stage at the Cairo Opera House.
Thuraya Habibi is a feature documentary, a Lebanese-Qatari co-production, spoken in Arabic, with a runtime of 81 minutes.
The film delves into the world of artist Thuraya Baghdadi, revealing new aspects of her relationship with her late husband, the renowned director Maroun Baghdadi, thirty years after his passing. The work relies on footage from the film Little Wars (1982), which documented their first meeting, as well as personal archives and interviews revealing details of her inner life.
The film explores Thuraya’s relationship with her body after many years of dance and contemplation, her understanding of mourning, and the revival of her fragmented dialogues with Maroun, presenting a visual and emotional experience that meditates on memory, loss, and identity through an intimate cinematic language.
Nicolas Khoury is an independent and award-winning filmmaker based in Beirut. His experience spans short and feature-length documentaries, relying on personal narratives and unconventional storytelling methods. His short film Resonances won the Tanit d’Or at the Carthage Film Festival in 2018. In 2021, his debut feature Fiasco premiered at CPH:DOX and won two awards at the Cairo International Film Festival, exploring themes of memory, identity, and social and political realities.
About Cairo International Film Festival
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest festivals in the Arab world and Africa, and one of the most prominent international festivals accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Established in 1976 and held annually under the Ministry of Culture’s patronage, it combines artistic and professional dimensions, making it a key platform for cultural dialogue and strengthening the presence of Arab cinema on the international stage.
