The 42nd Cairo International Film Festival unveiled its 2020 awards at a gala ceremony held on December 10, 2020 at the Cairo Opera House.
Awards were presented to:
The Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film: Limbo by Ben Sharrock (UK)
The Silver Pyramid – Special Jury Award for Best Director:
Ivan I. Tverdovsky – Conference (Russia, Estonia, UK, Italy)
The Bronze Pyramid Award for Best First or Second Work of a Director:
Mayye Zayed – Lift Like a Girl (Egypt, Germany, Denmark)
Best Actress Awards: Elham Shahin – Curfew by Amir Ramses (Egypt) Natalya Pavlenkova – Conference by Ivan I. Tverdovsky (Russia, Estonia, UK, Italy)
Best Actor Award: Julian Vergov – German Lessons by Pavel G. Vesnakov (Bulgaria, Germany)
Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay: 50 or Two Whales Meet on the Beach by Jorge Cuchi (Mexico)
Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution: Limbo by Ben Sharrock (UK)
Jury Special Mention: Gaza Mon Amour by Arab Nasser & Tarzan Nasser (Palestine, France)
Cinema of Tomorrow
Special Mention of the Jury: Life on the Horn by Mo Harawe (Somalia, Austria, Germany), The Girls Who Burned the Night by Sara Mesfer (Saudi Arabia)
Special Jury Award: The Game by Roman Hodel (Switzerland)
Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film: Isabel by Sarah Al Shazly (Cuba)
Best Arab Film selected in any of the three competitions ($5,000): Gaza Mon Amour by Arab Nasser & Tarzan Nasser (Palestine, France), We Are From There by Wissam Tanios (Lebanon, France)
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award: Limbo by Ben Sharrock (UK)
International Critics’ Week Competition
Shadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film: Jing Wang – The Best is Yet to Come (China)
Fathy Farag Award/The Special Jury Award: Gold by Rogier Hesp (The Netherlands)
The Horizons of New Arab Cinema Competition
Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arabic Film: Roy Arida – Under the Concrete (France, Lebanon)
Salah Abu Seif Award /The Special Jury Award: Abdulaziz Alshlahei – The Tambour of Retribution (Saudi Arabia)
Best Non-Fiction Film Award: Wissam Tanios – We Are From There (Lebanon, France)
Best Acting Performance Award: Faisal Al Dokhy – The Tambour of Retribution (Saudi Arabia)
Jury Special Mention: Mohamed Mouftakir – The Fall of Apple Trees (Morocco)
Youssef Cherif Rizkallah Award – Audience Award ($15,000): Mayye Zayed – Lift Like a Girl (Egypt, Germany, Denmark)
Photos Courtesy of CIFF.
