Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced the Short Film Competition lineup for its 47th edition, taking place from 11 to 20 November 2026, as the festival marks 50 years since its inaugural edition in 1976.
The announcement was made during the festival’s press conference, held today, 11 October, at Sofitel Cairo Downtown Nile.
The Short Film Competition programme features 24 films, as follows:
A Tenderness — Sabrine Khoury | Palestine, Netherlands | 2026 | 17 min
An Impossible Word of Praise — Arturo Spano | Argentina, Italy | 2026 | 15 min
Case No. — Patrycja Polkowska | Poland | 2026 | 20 min
Cul-de-Sac! — Clyde Gates, Gabriel Sanson | Belgium, France | 2026 | 18 min
How to Catch a Butterfly — Kiriko Mechanicus | Netherlands | 2026 | 26 min
Imichki — Yza Nouiga | Canada, Morocco | 2026 | 15 min
Lovely Butterfly — Fairouz Hasan | Palestine | 2026 | 21 min
Madrugada — Sebastián Lojo | United Kingdom, Turkey, Guatemala | 2026 | 20 min
My First Day of Summer (Angelo Azzurro) — Tommaso Acquarone | Italy | 2026 | 21 min
Winter Time — Zeina Ramy | Egypt | 2026 | 15 min
Our Secrets — Lenti Liang | United States, China | 2026 | 15 min
Penguin — Kaspar Jancis | Estonia | 2026 | 15 min
Prisoner of Love — Yumna Marwan | Lebanon, United States | 2026 | 17 min
Sisters’ Swim — Lola Degove | France | 2026 | 15 min
Stretcher — Thibault Fauconnet | France | 2026 | 17 min
The Day I Smoked a Cigarette with My Father — Sameh Alaa, Robin Vouters | France, Belgium, Egypt | 2026 | 14 min
The Liars — Eduardo Braun Costa | Argentina | 2026 | 20 min
Trance — Jona Schloßer | Germany | 2026 | 23 min
Uncle Filmi — Nazgol Kashani | Germany | 2026 | 14 min
We Were Here — Pranav Bhasin | India | 2026 | 10 min
One Second — Nadine El Banhawy | Egypt, France | 2026 | 12 min
Birdie — Praise Odigie Paige | Nigeria | 2026 | 20 min
8 Walls 2 Doors — Miaochun Zhang | United States, China | 2026 | 23 min
White Dot — Amr Abed | Egypt, Spain | 2026 | 15 min
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the Arab world and Africa, and the only festival in the region to hold Category « A » status from the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Established in 1976, the festival is held annually under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
