The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

The Panorama of European Film Festival is set to take place at Zawya Cinema from the 1^st to the 10^th of April. After its initial cancellation due to COVID-19 in November 2020, and then its subsequent cancellation in January this year, the festival is finally happening at its usual location at Downtown Cairo’s Zawya Cinema, as well as Galaxy Cinema in Al-Manial.

First taking place in 2004, the Panorama of European Film Festival is aimed at showcasing a variety of different films from various genres. From documentaries to award-winning feature films and classics, the movies shown at the festival, many of which are independent films, often come from European countries or are of European production.

This year, the Panorama of European Film Festival will be screening forty films, divided into three sections over the 10 days. The first section will be “Feature Narrative Films”, featuring movies like Dau, Natacha (2020), Sweat (2020), and Otac (2020). The second section, “Documentary Films”, will include movies like White Riot (2019), Little Girl (2020), and Wake Up on Mars (2020). The third and final section will be “Emerging Directors” and will include films like A Perfectly Normal Family (2020), The Ties (2020), and Gagarine (2020). You can find more details about the scheduled films here.

Over the last few years, the festival has been organised by Zawya Cinema, one of the festival’s two locations this year. Zawya, established in 2014, is a movie theatre aimed at screening independent films from both regional and international filmmakers, making it the perfect location for the festival. As stated on its official website, Zawya Cinema screens “an alternative selection of films from different parts of the world, varying from feature films, shorts, documentaries, to experimental works and retrospectives”. This is all done to expand cinematic culture across Cairo.

Established by the Egyptian International Film Company, the festival gets its backing from the European Union (EU) and the embassies of multiple European countries, all supporting this ongoing celebration of European film culture. Moreover, the festival gets its funds from the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and the EU, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.

To attend the festival, you can either get panorama cards, which allow their holders to attend morning shows for free, or you can buy your tickets only for the day you want to attend. More details about the festival will be revealed at a press conference, set to take place in a matter of days. Finally, for an enjoyable yet safe experience, the festival’s organisational team is taking the necessary precautionary measures, which you can find here.