The festival ran from 19 to 22 December with the screenings taking place in the cinema hall of the Hanager Arts Centre at the Cairo Opera’s ground in Cairo.
The festival trophy represents the Cairo Tower, which is one of the prominent landmarks of the Egyptian capital.
The jury members of each competitive segment included renowned artists from Egypt and the Arab world.
Besides film screenings, the festival also hosted several panels and discussions with the filmmakers.
The awards were as follows.
International film competition
Jury: director Abu Bakr Shawky, actress Kinda Alloush, and musician Khaled Hammad.
Golden Tower Award
File (Italy) by Sonia K. Hadad
Silver Tower Award
Simo (Canada) by Aziz Zoromba
Special Mention
Memoir of a Veering Storm (Greece) by Sofia Georgovassili
Documentary films competition
Jury: director Sherif Fathy, director of photography Hussein Bakr, and director Hanan Rady.
Golden Tower Award
32 Abu El-Mahasen El-Shazly (Egypt) by May Kadry Ziady
Silver Tower Award
The Birds Have Left Beirut (Lebanon) by Khalil Zaarour
Special Mention
I Found My Love in Massara (Egypt) by Stephanie Amin
Egyptian film competition
Golden Tower Award
He’s Dead Now (Egypt) by Tarek El-Sherbeny
Silver Tower Award
Mama (Egypt) by Naji Ismail
Special Mention
Amaal (Egypt) by Dibo
Last Day (Egypt) by Ahmed Dahroug
Youth film competition
Jury: director Mohamed Hani, scriptwriter Thanaa Hashem, and film critic Ahmed Assar.
Golden Tower Award
Every Two Weeks (Egypt) by Aya El-Hussieni
Silver Tower Award
Last Promises (Iraq) by Ali Abdul-Sattar
Special Mention
It’s Not You by Shady Nour Fahmy
