The seventh edition of Cairo Industry Days (CID), the industry arm of Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), kicks off tomorrow, Monday, with the launch of ten specialized workshops covering a wide range of cinematic fields.
These workshops are designed to enhance the creative and professional skills of filmmakers. The diverse topics include Genre Films, Filmmaker Capacity Building, Short Series Development, Improvisation in Acting, Imagination in Editing, Programming for Cinema Spaces, CID for Youth Day, Directing Emotionally Demanding Scenes, and Digital Restoration. This edition also marks the debut of the « Beyond the Frame: Interactive Storytelling (XR) » workshop in Egypt, which highlights new narrative methods blending art and technology.
The workshops received significant interest, with over 900 applications submitted. Approximately 330 participants were selected, including Egyptian and Arab filmmakers from Sudan, Tunisia, Jordan, and Morocco. This represents the largest number of participants in the festival’s workshop history, reflecting growing confidence in CIFF’s role as a leading platform for knowledge exchange and skill development in the region.
The workshops are supervised by a group of prominent international and Egyptian trainers and experts, including: Italian director and writer Simona Napoli; experts from the Jocelyne Saab Association for Film Restoration, Awsan Al-Sawaf, Mounir Al-Mahmoud, and Ider Ben Salama; Egyptian screenwriter Mahmoud Ezzat; Italian producer Giovanni Robbiano; writer-director Cecilia Pagliarani; script consultant Sehar Salah; editor Yasser Azmy; acting coach Ramzy Lehner; director and intimacy coordinator Sondos Shabayek; artist Salwa Mohamed Ali; director Bassam Mortada; sound engineer Abdelrahman Mahmoud; artistic director of Filmlab Palestine Hanna Atallah; and programmers Nawara Shoukry and Mohamed Amin.
Notably, the number of workshops this year has more than doubled compared to the sixth edition of Cairo Industry Days. This expansion underscores the continuous growth of the festival’s educational and training activities and solidifies its position as a key driver for the development of the Arab film industry.
About Cairo Industry Days
Cairo Industry Days (CID) is the industry platform of Cairo International Film Festival. Launched in 2018, it aims to provide a space for networking, discussion, education, and innovation for filmmakers from the Arab region and around the world. Its programs include project support for films in development and post-production, in addition to workshops, masterclasses, and panel discussions.
About Cairo International Film Festival
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious festivals in the Arab world and Africa, and the only one in the region to hold a Category « A » accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in Paris. Founded in 1976, the is held annually under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
