Cairo International. The film festival opened this year by looking inward rather than outward, highlighting the vast archive of Egyptian classics under restoration. During the ceremony, audiences were shown striking before and after footage of restored films such as Hossam El-Din Mustafa's Crime in a Quiet Neighborhood and Kamal Al-Sheikh's Sunset and Sunrise, causing an audible reaction as decades-old images re-emerged with new clarity and texture. For the CIFF President Hussein FahmyThis moment marked a renewed commitment to not only preserving but also revitalizing Egypt's cinematic heritage.
The restoration program, carried out in collaboration with the Culture and Film Investment Holding Company, part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, represents one of the most ambitious archival projects in the history of the region. Fahmy said the push is driven by both cultural responsibility and a seismic shift in filmmaking technology. “The technology has changed, so I had to change with it.”
This year featured 21 newly restored titles, all of which now include English subtitles to appeal to an international audience. But the initiative does not end with festival screenings. “It’s no use restoring films and showing them as part of a festival, and then no one will see them,” Fahmy said during a press roundtable. To ensure long-term access, CIFF and the holding company are developing a dedicated digital platform for Egyptian classics. “You can watch all these films on this platform,” he shared, noting that young film fans often don’t have an entry point into the country’s earlier film tradition.
“Sunset and Sunrise” (with permission Cairo Film Festival)
The initiative is not entirely new; CIFF has begun restoring and presenting heritage works in recent editions, gradually expanding its efforts through the large-scale program presented this year.
Restoration footage shown at the opening ceremony enthused festival goers, highlighting the sophistication of the Egyptian studio era and the craftsmanship that, according to Fahmy, stood “parallel to American cinema, European cinema” of its time.
While the first batch restored is a major milestone, the scale of the work ahead remains staggering. “We have 1,300 films to restore,” Fahmy admitted. However, he sees the size of the archive as a long-term opportunity. Once the collection is digitized and made available, it could become one of the most comprehensive archives of Arab cinema in the world. “If we have all these numbers, we can have a fantastic platform with a wide range of films,” he stressed.
Fahmy placed reconstruction efforts within a broader reflection on Egypt's changing role in regional manufacturing. The country once produced about 60 films annually and exported them to the Middle East and North Africa. In recent years, political turmoil, market losses in neighboring countries and the pandemic have reduced production to an average of 16 films per year.
Despite this, he insists that Egyptian cinema retains a deeply recognizable identity. “When you watch an Egyptian film, you know it’s an Egyptian film,” he said. Its rhythm, themes and cultural background, he argues, give it an enduring international appeal: “The more international you become, it's because you come from your own society, your own culture.”
For Fahmy, the restoration program aims not only to preserve, but also to restore the emotional filmmaking that he believes is increasingly lacking in mainstream cinema. “The downside of what is happening today is that when we watch films, we are not part of it,” said the veteran actor. “There was a lot of feeling and emotion in the films we made. You felt connected to the characters.”
He hopes the revival of classic Egyptian cinema, based on character, mood and emotional intimacy, will inspire young filmmakers to reconnect with storytelling rooted in humanity rather than pure spectacle.
Amid growing competition from regional festivals, Fahmy stressed that CIFF needs to remain “young in spirit” even as it enters its 46th year. He believes revitalizing the national archive is one of the most powerful ways to do this, preserving history and giving new filmmakers a foundation to build on.
“Crime in a Quiet Neighborhood” (Courtesy of Cairo Film Festival)
