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

A caravan of films by Latin and Arab women is passing
through Cairo, and will be held at the Cairo Opera House’s Creative Art Centre
from May 16th until May 20th. Don’t miss out on this great cinematic
experience in Cairo.

Entre Cineastas Film Festival, which is Spanish for ‘among
women filmmakers’, starts its fourth round today, May 16th. For the past three
years, Entre Cineastas has been building bridges between Spanish-speaking
countries and the Arab world through the art of cinema produced by female
filmmakers. The festival hosts films made by women from both Latin America and
the Arab World.

‘They have to be women directors,’ says Amal Ramsis,
one of the founders of the festival in Cairo, ‘But it doesn’t matter what the
subject matter is; it doesn’t have to be related to women specifically, it
could be anything.’

‘There is not enough cultural exchange between the
Arab world and the Spanish-speaking world mainly because of the language
barrier,’ says Ramsis, ‘Despite there being many things in common between them.’
Entre Cineastas Festival aims at erasing this gap by presenting the many
artistic visions of the directors. The festival will continue for five days,
showing fourteen productions by directors from Mexico, Lebanon, Egypt, Germany
and Spain, among others.

The festival’s organisers translate the Spanish films
into Arabic and vice versa to facilitate the audience’s experience in this
cross-cultural exchange. After the screening of each film, there is an open
discussion with its director, which, according to Ramsis, dissolves any borders
of difference.

‘The presence
of the directors facilitates the exchange of cultures and experiences,’ she
explains.         

As it’s a moving caravan, the festival will head to
Granada after Cairo, followed by eight other cities in the Arab world, Spain
and Latin America. The schedule for the screening of the films in Cairo is available
on Cairo360’s events page as well as on the festival’s Facebook event page. 

Among the films being screened are Spanish/Mexican
production Ameren Idea by Maider
Oleaga, 1972 Lebanese film The Hour of
the Liberty Has Sounded by Heiny Srour, The
Dish of the Wolves by Egyptian filmmaker Mona Iraki, German production Isabel Allende by Paula Rodriguez, Prohibited by Amal Ramsis, Lebanese production The Kingdom of the Women by Dana
Abourahma, and Five Minutes Away from the
House, a Palestinian/Turkish/Swiss production by Nahed Awwad.