Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is stepping down as president of the Cairo Film Festival. During his four-year tenure, the executive helped to revamp the prominent Arab fest, which had been losing luster due to political turbulence.The announcement was made on Tuesday by Egypt's Minister of Culture, Enas Abdel Dayem, who said veteran Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy will take over the fest's presidency. Fahmy, who is 81, has starred in more than 100 Egyptian film, TV and theater productions. A UCLA...
Film Clinic
Mohamed
Hefzy
Founding Director, Film Clinic / President, CIFF
Hefzy has weathered the pandemic well. He managed to hold the Cairo International Film Festival as an in-person event in both 2020 and 2021 while maintaining the prolific output of his production company, Film Clinic, with movies including Ayten Amin’s “Soad,” Omar El Zohairy’ “Feathers,” Mohamed Diab’s “Amira” and Hany Abu-Assad’s “Huda’s Salon” (the latter two of which he personally produced). In September 2021, Film Clinic got a big financial boost when government-backed investment firm Ergo Media Ventures purchased a 49% stake in the company, leaving Hefzy and his partners with a 51% controlling interest. Upcoming Film Clinic features include Hani Khalifa’s “Cairo Mecca” and Wissam Smayra’s Arabic remake of the Italian dramedy “Perfect Strangers.”