“Cairo Film Festival” is expanding its public screenings and betting on young people

In its 47th session, the Cairo International Film Festival is betting on intensifying the screenings of its films, competitions and events, betting on attracting the audience, especially young people, through a number of programs that it introduced for the first time in this session, which witnesses the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. Its first sessions began in 1976, while three sessions were suspended due to exceptional circumstances, including the 2023 “Gaza War.”

It was clear from the opening ceremony the momentum that characterizes this session, which is held from November 11-20 of this year, from the presence of a wide range of Egyptian, Arab and international artists, including stars and filmmakers, and from the honors given to 5 Egyptian, Arab and foreign filmmakers in the session that witnesses the screening of 145 films, representing 64 countries.

Through a “black and white” scene from the movie “A Thing of Fear,” the opening of the festival began. Where the land is thirsty, and it has cracked due to the closing of the “lock”, so the film’s heroine, “Fouada”, played by the artist Shadia, opens the lock to restore life to the land and people, and the farmers embrace, a scene that was admired by the audience.

Hussein Fahmy, head of the festival, was inspired by the symbolism of this scene in his speech at the opening ceremony, which was held on Wednesday, in the Grand Theater of the Opera House. He said that the lock was not only a symbol of water that people cannot be deprived of, but rather it has become a symbol of art and stories that remain alive no matter how much time passes. He stressed that the film “A Thing of Fear” is still present 57 years after its production, thanks to its story and heroes who were able to defy time with their art, pointing to the importance of preserving the legacy of Egyptian cinema, by continuing the plan to restore films in a new batch, including “Idol of the Masses,” “The Rebels,” “Al-Bostagi,” “Miramar,” and “Soft Hands.” He pointed out that there are still 140 films owned by the “holding company.” For cinema” within the restoration plan.

Dr. Abdel Aziz Qanswa, Acting Minister of Culture, pointed out in his speech that the Ministry of Culture is responsible for restoring the remaining films, as they represent Egypt’s soft power, stressing that cinema is not a means of entertainment, but rather contributes to shaping awareness and enhancing dialogue between peoples.

Hussein Fahmy told Asharq Al-Awsat that he is betting on the audience in this session, noting that the public attendance increases with each session by more than 10,000 viewers more than the previous one, pointing out the strong attraction of the festival, adding: “We are doing everything to facilitate viewing, by increasing the cinemas, and allowing university and school students to attend to watch the following films from different countries of the world, in addition to the restorations that we are making to preserve the great legacy of Egyptian cinema.”

The opening ceremony witnessed the honoring of 4 major film stars and makers, and giving them the “Golden Pyramid” Lifetime Achievement Award. They are the Italian director Matteo Garrone, the Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch, who also chairs the international competition’s jury, the Egyptian writer and producer Dr. Medhat El Adl, and the artist Farouk Flux, while the artist Aser Yassin won the “Faten Hamama Appreciation” Award for artistic excellence.

“Red Carpet” received Egyptian and Arab movie stars, and this year witnessed the return of a number of stars who were absent from it, including the artist Heba Magdy, after her recovery from cancer, the artist Samira Ahmed, and the artist Shahira, who appeared with a different look, in which she abandoned covering her hair.

Critic Tariq El-Shenawy praised the artist Hussein Fahmy’s insistence on restoring the heritage of Egyptian cinema, and told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the festival is acting on behalf of the state to save our heritage,” hoping that other festivals such as “El Gouna Film Festival” would follow suit, noting that the “Red Sea Festival” has always restored two Egyptian films every session.

The American opening film, “I Play Rocky,” directed by Peter Farrelly, was admired by the audience. The film deals with the true journey of actor Sylvester Stallone, and the difficult battle he fought to write and present his famous film “Rocky 1” 50 years ago, coinciding with the festival’s celebration of its golden jubilee.

American actor Anthony Ippolito embodies the character of Stallone in the film, embodying its details from appearance to voice and features. The film stars Matt Damon, AnnaSophia Robb, and Toby Kebbell. Despite the difficulty of the hero's journey to prove his talent, the film presents its events in a comedic spirit, and narrates one of the most famous success stories in Hollywood, and how a risky journey turned into a global cinematic phenomenon.

Egyptian art critic Ahmed Saad El-Din described the film’s selection as “one of the most beautiful openings of the festival.” It embodies the suffering of a hero who started from nothing, but he stuck to his dream and was able to conquer all circumstances, to set out and remain a global star for half a century.”

He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The film includes integrated elements of photography, acting, music and script,” referring to the ending scene in which the director used the last shots from the movie “Rocky 1” with his real hero, Sylvester Stallone, in addition to scenes that nominated the film for 10 Oscars half a century ago. The movie “I Play Rocky” is also nominated for the Oscars in 2027.

The festival's performances began on Thursday, and it will witness several activities aimed at attracting the public, such as a special program for children, “Cairo Kids,” and the “New Wave” program, which hosts 100 emerging talents from various Egyptian governorates, in addition to Arab participants residing in Egypt.

Italian director Matteo Garrone said that the “Golden Pyramid for Lifetime Achievement” award, which he received at the opening of the forty-seventh session of the “Cairo International Film Festival,” was a surprise to him, as he came to Egypt for the first time knowing that he would present a symposium about his experience, and he learned about the honor during the visit. Pointing out that his commitment to work forced him to stay for a short stay, so he did not have the opportunity to see much of Cairo, but he loved the atmosphere of the festival and intends to return when he has more time.

Jaroni added in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that choosing one film as the most important in his career is like trying to choose a song from among the songs he loves. In his view, every film is a part of his life, and it is difficult for him to separate what he made from the period he lived while working on it.

He explained that what drives him to make the next film is the possibility of discovering something new, and that moving between cinematic genres gives him an opportunity for that, which is something that can be traced in his career since his first feature film, “Terra di Mezzo” in 1997.

The Italian director received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cairo Film Festival on Wednesday evening, while presenting the “Master Class” on Thursday, an event whose tickets sold out shortly after its launch due to public demand.

Matteo Garrone was born in Rome in 1968, the son of a theater critic father and a photography mother. He studied drawing and worked as an assistant in cinematography before turning to directing. In 1996, he won the “Sacre d’Oro” award for his short film “Silhouette.” The following year, he founded the “Archimedes” production company in Rome, through which he presented his first feature films.

The Italian director pointed out that drawing preceded cinema in his life, and that he still thinks about his films with the eyes of a painter, pointing out that developing the story for him is accompanied by thinking about the shape of the world in which the characters will move, and what the audience can see inside it. While making the film, he searches for something that will surprise him first, hoping that this amazement will be transmitted to the viewer.

Garrone described his film “Gomorra” as a “black fairy tale,” even though the film is based on the reality of organized crime, a work that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, before Garrone won the same award for the film “Reality” in 2012.

The Italian director touched on the temptation of fame in his film “Reality,” which was based on an incident experienced by his wife’s brother, stressing that he understands the desire of those who see the world of stars from the outside to become a part of it.

He explained that what stops him in his characters is what people know of their struggles, whether in their quest for love and happiness or in their attempt to survive, noting that he presented the film “I Am the Captain” based on his desire to change the starting point of the immigration story as the audience in Italy sees it.

He said, “People are accustomed to seeing immigrants upon their arrival, and hearing their news in the form of numbers, while their families and dreams are absent from that picture,” as he put it. That is why he chose what he called the “reverse shot,” that is, looking at the road from the direction from which those who travel on it see it.

The film follows two young men who leave Dakar for Europe, so the viewer knows what they hope to travel before accompanying them through the desert and detention centers in Libya all the way to the sea. It is a work whose events were inspired by the events of the Ivorian immigrant Mamadou Kouassi, while Jaroni won the “I Am the Captain” award for “I Am the Captain” for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, and the film was nominated in 2024 for the Academy Award for Best International Film for Acting. For Italy.

Jaroni said that awards do not occupy his mind while making the film, as his interest focuses on the feelings that the work can arouse in those who see it. He stressed that what makes him happy is for the audience to enjoy the show, or to realize that something from the film remained with one of the spectators after he left the hall.

Eat more blueberries. Exercise more than you think you need. Buy a new wearable device that tracks your sleep quality more accurately than the previous one... These are just a few examples of longevity tips you may encounter online or hear in your daily conversations. It seems that new tips are emerging every day, coinciding with the rapid growth of what is known as the “wellness economy,” according to CNBC.

Influencers use terms such as “health span” in videos posted on YouTube and TikTok. At the same time, consumer products promise their users to help them age healthier, by maintaining mental clarity and physical fitness. Hundreds of medical clinics specializing in longevity have spread throughout the United States.

As this sector booms, it becomes more difficult to distinguish between reliable scientific facts and marketing hype and exaggeration.

In this context, CNBC met with two experts, Dr. Andrea Mayer and Dr. Frank Lipman, to shed light on some common myths related to prolonging life. The two experts identified three main myths:

Myth 1 - Devices that track health indicators and complex blood tests are necessary for everyone

Some Americans use wearable devices, such as Oura rings and Fitbit devices, to monitor various health indicators, including stress levels and heart rate. People who are most interested in this field may resort to comprehensive and complex blood tests, to see precise details, such as blood cell counts and thyroid hormone levels.

Although Mayer and Lipman personally use devices to track health indicators, they agree that careful monitoring of health data, without the appropriate approach, may be useless and, in some cases, even harmful.

Mayer explains that monitoring health data is only useful if the person is able to understand the information he or she receives.

For his part, Lipman warns that obsession with the results of these devices may be harmful, especially to the mental health of people who tend to worry excessively.

He cites sleep quality as an example, saying: “If monitoring your sleep makes you feel overly anxious about it, then it's not healthy for you.”

Mayer points out that some people use artificial intelligence chatbots to summarize their health data, which may expose them to a greater amount of information that they may not understand as much as they think.

A study conducted by doctors, published in the journal npj Digital Medicine, concluded that some of these programs’ answers to medical questions may “lead to serious harm to patients.”

“If you don't know how to handle the information you get from a wearable device or a blood test, and assuming it's not ordered by a doctor who can help you interpret the results, it's best not to do it in the first place,” Mayer advises.

Myth 2: Intravenous fluids make you healthier

If you regularly follow online content related to the “wellness” field, you have likely heard about intravenous solutions, which involve injecting vitamins, minerals, or other supplements directly into the bloodstream, rather than taking them orally.

Vitamin and mineral supplements have long been promoted, often in questionable ways, as “shortcuts” to good health.

According to estimates by research firm Grand View Research, the intravenous hydration therapy market in the United States will achieve revenues of $1.12 billion in 2025.

In some wellness clinics, a compound known as NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is being promoted as anti-aging intravenous infusions.

But Mayer is skeptical of these practices, explaining that with the exception of iron injections, which can be used to treat medically diagnosed iron deficiency by delivering the mineral directly into the bloodstream, “there is not much evidence” to support the effectiveness of intravenous treatments designed to provide the body with vitamins.

As for NAD+ specifically, which is a compound that the body naturally produces and plays an essential role in metabolic processes, some studies conducted on animals indicate that taking supplements containing raw materials involved in its production may enhance the levels of this coenzyme in the body.

However, Dr. Neil Bulfin, a specialist in longevity and functional medicine in New York City, explains that there is not enough research to prove that taking these supplements has significant benefits for healthy people.

Mayer stresses that she does not recommend trying supplements that are “based solely on evidence from animal studies.”

But she adds, “The decision to buy these supplements, try them, and evaluate whether you actually feel better is yours alone.”

As for intravenous NAD+ injections, she says: “The marketing methods for them are very clever, but the scientific evidence is completely absent. “There are no studies to support it at all.”

Myth 3 - Expensive, high-tech treatments are better than simple habits

Lipman believes that quick solutions often seem more attractive to consumers than practices that require adopting long-term healthy habits, especially when those solutions rely on new or exciting technologies.

But he stresses that procedures such as cryotherapy, full-body MRI, or comprehensive laboratory blood tests remain of limited benefit if a person does not start paying attention to the basics.

“The myth is that you need all these expensive gadgets to age well,” Lipman says. The truth I am presenting is that the most important of all lies in the basic pillars that do not cost anything at all.”

He believes that the keys to longevity are simple: exercising, eating healthy, prioritizing sleep, managing stress levels, and finding a goal that gives a person the motivation to continue.

Each of these practices has broad support from research into the factors associated with living a long, healthy life.

For more than 80 years, researchers at Harvard University have studied the factors that enhance the chances of living longer and enjoying a happier life.

Their ongoing research has identified seven core practices:

- Maintaining a healthy body weight.

- Exercising daily.

- Adopting an adaptive approach to dealing with challenges, by mastering conflict resolution skills.

- Develop a “growth mindset” through a commitment to lifelong learning.

- Maintaining stable, long-term friendships and loving relationships.

- Avoid consuming alcohol.

- Refrain from smoking.