# 33rd Cairo International Film Festival

The 33rd annual Cairo International Film Festival was held from November 10 to November 20, 2009. Indian director Adoor Gopalakrishnan was the president of the jury.

## Films in competition

The following films competed for the Golden Pyramid.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| Luisa | | Gonzalo Calzada | Argentina |
| I Believe In Angels | Vjerujem u Anđele | Niksa Svilicic | Croatia |
| The Nile Birds | عصافير النيل | Magdy Ahmed Ali | Egypt |
| Letters to Father Jackob | Postia Pappi Jaakobille | Klaus Härö | Finland |
| The Hedgehog | Le hérisson | Mona Achache | France |
| Slaves in Their Bonds | Οι Σκλάβοι στα Δεσμά τους | Adonis Lykouresis | Greece |
| The Days of Desire | Vágyakozás Napjai | Jósef Pacskovszky | Hungary |
| Madholal Keep Walking | | Jai Tank | India |
| New York | | Kabir Khan | India |
| The Friends at the Margherita Cafe | Gli amici del bar Margherita | Pupi Avati | Italy |
| Vortex | Duburys | Gytis Luksas | Lithuania |
| Crossword Destinies | فينك اليام | Driss Chouika | Morocco |
| Tiny Dust, True Love | | Shen Dong | China |
| Splinters | Drzazgi | Maciej Pieprzyca | Poland |
| Amália | | Carlos Coelho da Silva | Portugal |
| One War | Одна Война | Vera Glagoleva | Russia |
| I Saw The Sun | Güneşi Gördüm | Mahsun Kırmızıgül | Turkey |

## Digital Competition

The following films were screened in the Digital Competition for Feature Films category.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| (Un)Lucky | زهر | Fatma Zohra Zamoum | Algeria |
| Open Diaries | | Sasha A. Schriber | Canada |
| Exile in Paris | Paris d'exil | Ahmet Zirek | France |
| C.V. Attached | Im Anhang: Lebenslauf | Andrea Schorr | Germany |
| Tenderness | Τρυφερότητα | Panagiotis Karamitsos | Greece |
| Witches Circle | Boszorkanykor | Dizso Zsigmond | Hungary |
| First Time | Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai | Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam | India |
| The Rapture of Fe | Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe | Alvin Yapan | Philippines |
| Contract | Contrato | Nicolau Breyner | Portugal |
| Wait For Me and I Will Not Return | Čekaj me, ja sigurno neću doći | Miroslav Momcilovic | Serbia |
| Xtrems | | Abel Folk, Joan Riedweg | Spain |
| New Year's Eve | | Jhake R. Wells | Switzerland |
| The Watcher | Bekçi | Özcan Tekdemir | Turkey |
| Godforsaken | | Jamil Dehlavi | United Kingdom |

## Arab Competition

The following films were screened in the Arab Competition for Feature Films category.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| Journey to Algiers | رحلة الى الجزائر | Abdelkrim Baloul | Algeria |
| Heliopolis | مصر الجديدة | Ahmad Abdalla | Egypt |
| The Nile Birds | عصافير النيل | Magdy Ahmed Ali | Egypt |
| Tale of a Mchaouchi Wrestler | موسم المشاوشة | Mohamed Ahed Bensouda | Morocco |
| Crossword Destinies | فينك اليام | Driss Chouika | Morocco |
| Amreeka | أمريكا | Cherien Dabis | Palestine/ United States |
| Pomegranates and Myrrh | المر و الرمان | Najwa Najjar | Palestine |
| The Long Night | الليل الطويل | Hatem Ali | Syria |
| Thirty | ثلاثون | Fadhel Jaziri | Tunisia |
| Buried Secrets | أسرار دفينة | Raja Amari | Tunisia |
| A Very Beautiful Trip | سفرة يا محلاها | Khaled Ghorbal | Tunisia/ France |

## Films out of competition

The following films were screened out of the competition.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| A Fly in the Ashes | La mosca in la ceniza | Gabriela David | Argentina |
| Forever waiting | Hoy no se fía, mañana sí | Francisco Avizanda | Spain/ France |
| Cairo Time | | Ruba Nadda | Canada |
| The Traveller | المسافر | Ahmed Maher | Egypt |
| Teza | | Haile Gerima | Ethiopia/ France/ Germany |
| Marchal | MR 73 | Olivier Marchal | France |
| A Widow at Last | Enfin veuve | Isabelle Mergault | France |
| Client (A French Gigolo) | Cliente | Josiane Balasko | France |
| Home | | Yann Arthus-Bertrand | France |
| Lost Times | Utolsó idők | Áron Mátyássy | Hungary |
| Dawn of the World | فجر العالم | Abbas Fahdel | France/ Germany/ Iraq |
| Casanegra | كزانكرا | Nour Eddine Lakhmari | Morocco |
| Ward No. 6 | Палата № 6 | Karen Shakhnazarov | Russia |
| Day of Defeated | Dehb nepemome hux | Yamburskiy Valeriy | Ukraine |
| The Soloist | | Joe Wright | United Kingdom/ United States/ France |
| New Town Killers | | Richard Jobson | United Kingdom |
| The Limits of Control | | Jim Jarmusch | United States/ Japan |

## Awards

The winners of the 2009 Cairo International Film Festival were:
* Golden Pyramid: Postia Pappi Jaakobille by Klaus Härö
* Silver Pyramid: Le hérisson by Mona Achache
* Best Director: Mona Achache for Le hérisson
* Saad El-Din Wahba Prize (Best Screenplay): Klaus Härö for Postia Pappi Jaakobille
* Best Actor:
** Fathy Abdel Wahab for The Nile Birds
** Subrat Dutta for Madholal Keep Walking
* Best Actress: Karolina Piechota for Drzazgi
* Naguib Mahfouz Prize (Best Directorial Debut): Gonzalo Calzada for Luisa
* Youssef Chahine Prize (Best Artistic Contribution): Vera Glagoleva for Odna voyna
* Best Arabic Film: Amreeka by Cherien Dabis
* Best Arabic Screenplay: Cherien Dabis for Amreeka
* Arabic Film Special Mention:
** Heliopolis by Ahmad Abdalla
** The Long Night by Hatem Ali
* Golden Award for Digital Films: The Rapture of Fe by Alvin Yapan
* Silver Award for Digital Films:
** Exile in Paris by Ahmet Zirek
** First Time by Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam
* FIPRESCI Prize: Mona Achache for Le hérisson