Portal:African cinema/Selected article/3

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) (Arabic: مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual film festival held at the Cairo Opera House. Established in 1976 by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics it is one of the oldest in the Arab world and Africa, and is the only festival in the region given category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).

The creation of the festival was prompted by a visit to the Berlin Film Festival in 1975 by the writer-critic Kamal El Mallakh and a group of like-minded cinema critics who questioned why a similar world-class festival didn’t exist in Egypt. The country was still in Egyptian cinema's "Golden Age" and its film industry the biggest in the Arab world. The festival offers cash prizes and awards in various categories.

The highest award endowed is the Golden Pyramid Award for Best Picture. The Silver and Bronze Pyramid awards are given for the Best Director and Best New Director, respectively. Recent Golden Pyramid winners include I’m No Longer Here  (2019) and Limbo (2020). The 45th edition of the film festival in 2023 was canceled due to the Israel-Hamas war.