Aziz Shennawy’s debut feature ‘To the Sun and Beyond’ will compete in the 47th Cairo International Film Festival’s Horizons of Arab Cinema section, while Malek Hebiri’s ‘Sociophobia’ screens in Cairo Kids.
Tunisian director Aziz Shennawy’s debut feature, To the Sun and Beyond, has been shortlisted for the Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition at the 47th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF).
The Tunisia-Saudi co-production is backed by Tunisian production company Genuine For Films and Entertainment and supported by the Saudi Red Sea Fund, the National Centre for Cinema and the Image (CNCI) and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
The drama follows Linda, a widow who is fiercely protective of her seven-year-old son. The boy lives with xeroderma pigmentosum, a genetic condition characterised by extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet rays. Linda eventually realises that motherhood also means helping her son live life to the full, despite the limitations imposed by his condition.
Tunisia’s presence at CIFF also extends to the new Cairo Kids competition, dedicated to young audiences, with the selection of Malek Hebiri’s animated short Sociophobia, supported by the Doha Film Institute.
Festival organisers unveiled the programme on Sunday during a press conference in Cairo. This edition coincides with the 50th anniversary of the festival’s founding in 1976.
The line-up features 145 films from Afghanistan to Uruguay — 109 fiction features, 17 documentaries and 29 shorts — including 17 world premieres, five international premieres and 87 MENA premieres.
The 47th Cairo International Film Festival runs from November 11 to 20.
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