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Fahmy defiant: show must go on
by Tarek Atia
(cairolive.com, October 5, 2001)
At a press conference on Thursday, Cairo International Film Festival director Hussein Fahmy (right) said that -- despite a great deal of guest cancellations -- the festival's silver jubilee will progress as scheduled, beginning next Tuesday, October 9...
Guest cancellations are "not really significant," Fahmy said, "because the festival is mainly based on the jury judging the films in competition," -- and the members of the jury have all confirmed that they are coming, the festival director said at a press conference on Thursday night.
So far, the only international star confirmed to attend as a celebrity guest is US actor Danny Glover of the Lethal Weapon series fame. However, Fahmy was sure to mention over and over again, "that's the news until this very minute. I don't know what will happen tomorrow."
The festival, of course, has been suffering the fate of many cultural events in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the US -- it has been vastly overshadowed, and the fear of similar incidents or a wider war breaking out has made some of the guests who were scheduled to attend reluctant to travel. Amongst those stars, Fahmy said, were Sophie Marceau, Warren Beatty and Shirley Maclean. The same thing happened at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain, which began on the 20th of September, and at the Marrakesh festival in Morocco that Fahmy just came back from.
Most of the cancellations -- understandably perhaps -- are from the US. Fahmy says 25 members of the LA film press cancelled -- "the only thing I really regret -- their presence would have had an impact," the actor and festival director said.
The good news is that all the films in competition -- approximately 22 -- Fahmy said, had arrived. Those include one US film -- Cameron's Crowe's Almost Famous, and one Egyptian entry -- Inas El-Degehiedi's Memos from a Teenager.
Fahmy said, "it was never in our mind to cancel the festival. Other festivals have been held since the tragic events in the States took place." The international film festival governing body under whose umbrella the festival resides "is very happy that the festival is going on as scheduled," Fahmy explained.
The most prominent international guest, perhaps, will be Iranian director Abbas Kiorastami, who will be heading this year's jury. Kiorastami disappointed many of his fans when he did not show up as a jury member last year. The Cannes Palme D'or director will also be honored and will have a few of his films shown during the two week event, Fahmy said.
Suddenly, in the midst of the press conference, which was being held at the brand new Royal Meridien hotel on the Nile in downtown Cairo, a loud siren went off and a booming voice on the intercom announced that, "An emergency has been reported on this floor. Please head to the nearest exit."
Luckily, everyone soon found out, there was nothing really wrong -- it was just a test alarm. "That's all we need for the festival," a flabbergasted Fahmy joked.
Stay tuned to cairolive over the next two weeks for lots of coverage from Cairo's premier cultural event...
Did you like this article? Send your comments to comments@cairolive.com
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