Cairo International Film Festival | International Competition 2025

November 3rd, 2025
Author: Meredith Taylor

C A I R O   I N T E R N A TI O N A L   F I L M   F E S T I V A L

Hussein Fahmy, President of the Cairo International Film Festival, announces the competition line-up of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), in its 46th edition.

Jury President: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Renowned Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan is considered one of the most significant contemporary directors in world cinema. His films are celebrated for their profound human and philosophical depth and their exquisite visual language, marking milestones in global cinema through their existential questions and distinctive aesthetic vision. Ceylan has received multiple awards at the Cannes Film Festival over the years. His film Distant (2003) won both the Grand Prix and the Best Actor Award. He received the Best Director Award for Three Monkeys (2008), and in 2011 his film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia earned him the Grand Prix once again. His career reached its peak in 2014 when he won the Palme d’Or for his epic Winter Sleep. Most recently, his film About Dry Grasses earned the Best Actress Award at Cannes in 2023, reaffirming his enduring presence and influence in world cinema

Jury – International Competition

Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Director and Screenwriter, Turkey – President of the Jury

Nadine Khan – Director, Egypt

Simona Paggi, – Editor, Italy

Leyla Bouzid – Director, Tunisia 

Guan Hu – Director, China 

Bogdan Mureșanu – Director, Romania

Basma – Actress. Egypt 

 

International Competition Titles 

Calle Málaga | Maryam Touzani | Morocco, France, Spain, Ger, Belg | 2025 | 116′

Death Does Not Exist | Félix Dufour-Laperrière | Canada | 2025 | 75 min

Dragonfly | Paul Andrew Williams | United Kingdom | 2025 | 98 min

Exile | Mehdi Hmili | Tunisia, Lux, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia | 2025 | 120′

Once Upon a Time in Gaza | Tarzan & Arab Nasser | France, Palestine, Germany, Portugal, Qatar, Jordan | 2025 | 87 min

One More Show | Mai Saad & Ahmed Eldanf | Egypt and Palestine | 2025 | 74′

Renovation | Gabrielė Urbonaitė | Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium | 2025 | 90 min

Sand City | Mahde Hasan | Bangladesh | 2025 | 99 min

The Silent Run | Marta Bergman | Belgium, Canada | 2025 | 94 min

Souraya, Mon Amour | Nicolas Khoury | Lebanon, Qatar | 2025 | 81 min

The Things You Kill | Alireza Khatami | Turk, Canada, France, Poland | 2025 | 113′

Zafzifa | Peter Sant | Malta | 2025 | 99 min

CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | 12-21 NOVEMBER 2025

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