The Ismailia Documentary and Short Film Festival launched its 25th edition today, Wednesday, celebrating its status as the leading regional platform for showcasing non-commercial films that have marked the first steps for several prominent filmmakers in Egypt and the Arab region. At the opening, festival president critic Essam Zakaria stated, "We celebrate the creators of documentary and short films who resist the allure of stardom and fame promised by commercial cinema, choosing instead to be closer to the people and more true to dreams. This edition is dedicated to those real heroes who fight for humanity."
The festival honored the late director Abdel Kader Talmasani (1924-2003) on the occasion of the centenary of his birth, screening two newly restored films, "The Axe and the Pen" and "The End of the Bar-Lev Line." It also honored the Egyptian director Samihah El Ghoneimi, who passed away days ago, as well as American director Steve James and Egyptian actress Salwa Mohamed Ali.
Organized by the National Center for Cinema, the festival runs until March 5, showcasing 121 films from over 60 countries, including 18 films in the "Silver Ismailia" program and four in the "Nostalgia for Cinema" program. In addition to film screenings, the festival will hold eight workshops covering scriptwriting, set design, filmmaking for children and people with special needs, shadow puppetry, and animation, along with the publication of seven books about the honorees and documentary cinema, as well as an exhibition dedicated to the late director Shadi Abdel Salam.
