Luxor African Film Festival to open at Luxor Temple on Friday

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:02 pm

The ninth edition of the Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF), which is this year in honour of the legendary actor and filmmaker Farid Shawky, is gearing up for its opening on Friday at Luxor Temple.

The opening film of the event will be Wonder Box, which is directed by Emad El-Bahat and features Khaled El Sawy, Rania Youssef, Salah Abdallah and Bassem Samra.

Kenya is this year’s country of honour and the festival will focus on the younger generation of Kenyan filmmakers.

Eleven films are competing in the full-length feature competition, eight in the full-length documentary competition, 17 in the short film competition, and seven in the diaspora competition, a new category which looks at the creations of Africans from outside the continent.

The event is celebrating the fifty-year career of Shawky, also known as “The King of Terso,” who starred in, produced, or wrote the script for over 400 films, in addition to other works in theatre and television.

Among other honourees, the festival will pay tribute to Senegalese actress Maimouna N’Diaye, Malian actor Sotigui Kouyaté, Egyptian actress and singer Akila Ratib, and Tunisian producer Ahmed Bahaeddine Attia.

The festival runs until 12 March.

Luxor Temple is located on the east bank of the Nile in the historic city of Luxor.

It dates to approximately 1400 BC.