43rd CIFF at Tahrir Campus a Boon for Students

By: Omar Magdy
@OmarMag15414519
Photo courtesy: The Office of Marketing Communication

AUC’s Tahrir Square campus has become the central hub for the 43rd edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), marking the first official collaboration between the university and the cultural event.

CIFF, organized annually by the Ministry of Culture, is the oldest film festival in the Middle East and is given category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations accrediting body.

The festival’s theme this year is Diversity and Inclusion and is featuring 98 films from 63 countries, of which 27 are world premieres and seven are international premieres. Around 80 films will have been screened during the festival’s 10-day run.

13 films in the main international competition were nominated for the Golden Pyramid award for Best Film. Another competition in the film festival is the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition, which includes 11 films from countries such as Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Algeria, as well as several joint productions.

Five of the films being screened are Egyptian submissions. They are: The Leftover Ladies by Farida Zahran, Life After Siham by Nameer AbdelMassih, Nour by Sara Shazli, Ravens of the City by Adham El-Sherif, and American Dream by Amir El Shenawy

“I’m delighted with this collaboration.  It is great to collaborate with such an event with great history and recognition,” said Mervat Abou Oaf professor of practice in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, and AUC’s academic consultant for the festival.

Abou Oaf believes that the collaboration is a great learning opportunity for students to experience what they learned in theory and apply into practice. As part of the collaboration, there are a number of workshops being offered such as acting, script writing or music.

Students are also learning about event management by serving as official volunteers at the festival itself.

“Everything that they do is educational, they are learning from experts in each field,” Abou Oaf told The Caravan.

One of the greatest challenges that Abou Oaf faced as AUC’s academic consultant for the festival was finding enough students to volunteer since the festival takes place close to the end of the semester.

“The volunteers surprised me and they made AUC proud. They were all at the AUC Tahrir Campus on time. I was very impressed,” she said.

She also expressed her appreciation for AUC President Ahmad Dallal and The Provost’s support of the partnership from the beginning.

“Even though AUC Tahrir lacked some technical equipment that are required in any film festival, the President made sure all the equipment required is available for the festival,” Abou Oaf told The Caravan.   

The recruitment of volunteers for this event was different from any other festival or event organized by AUC. 

Due to the festival’s size, it required more volunteers than usual. In addition, it also required a more rigorous screening process than in previous events.

AUC’s Theater and Film Club (TFC) arranged a multi-stage application process to extensively screen applicants. Some of the processes volunteers had to go through included filling forms, having interviews, and completing training.

While 150 students applied, only 48 were accepted as volunteers. 

“The volunteers have different jobs at the festival, their jobs are based on their training and previous experience,” Salma El Shamandy, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) senior and TFC vice-president, told The Caravan.

El Shamandy explained that this experience will help volunteers gain valuable professional experience which can get them started in the field.

“After the festival ends, every volunteer will get a certificate from CIFF and TFC to add in their resume. This will make it easier for them to continue in this field after they graduate and also the connections they built,” El Shamandy said.

Student volunteers are getting a lot out of this experience, they have the chance to learn very important skills such as time management, problem management, and team work in such a big event. 

Furthermore, since some of the volunteers are film majors they have the chance to attend events in the festival and meet some of their idols at the festival.

Zeina Lasheen, a senior double majoring in Psychology and IMC, is a volunteer at CIFF and shared that this experience really had a huge impact on her life. 

“In one of the workshops that I attended, I had the opportunity to meet Reem el Adly, who is a famous fashion designer. I learned from her a lot about fashion in movies and that was really great since I am really interested in fashion design,” Lasheen said. 

Lasheen also learned how to work under pressure and to be ready for any unexpected situation.

“After one of the panels I was working on, a sponsor appeared and she was late, she started yelling and shouting wanting to go in. At this moment I learned that we need to learn how to work with any situation we have professionally,” she said.

Marina Nabil, a Chemistry junior and one of the volunteers, said she is particularly proud to be a part of the team of volunteers at the festival. 

“I think one of the most important skills I learned is how to communicate with guests in a professional manner even during the hard times and problems we face,” Nabil said.

Nabil also explained that as CIFF volunteers it was important to recall the training they went through on how to deal with guests and solve problems to represent the festival in the best way possible. 

Additional reporting by Malak Kamel and Maya Abouelnasr