Malmo-Sweden-Sana
The "Malmo" Arab Cinema Festival in Sweden launched its eleventh session today, with the participation of about 40 films from 23 countries, with attendance being restricted to organizers and broadcasting events to the public via the Internet.
Reuters reported that the opening was held at Malmö municipality, in the far south of Sweden, and was broadcast on the festival's online platform and online social media.
The concert included musical performances with introductions to the jury and words of welcome to Malmö Mayor Karina Nelson, Freda Trollmere, head of the city’s culture committee, and Gita Vail, director of the Skåne County Culture Office.
"This is the second session organized by the festival in light of the Corona pandemic, and so we can say that we have succeeded in organizing two festivals in a short time. The tenth session was last October, and today we are in April," said director Mohamed Qiblawi, founder and president of the festival.
He added: “Despite the great difficulties that the world is currently going through during this time, festivals around the world have been forced to create new and safe platforms, and so have we developed a unique online platform / MAFPlay / where all the festival's films will be shown. Digitally, all activities and events are broadcasted on the Zoom platform.
At the opening, the festival screened the film "The Man Who Sold His Back" by Tunisian director Kawthar Ben Haniyeh, who reached the final list of nominations for the Oscar for Best International Film.
The festival program, which runs until April 11, includes two competitions, one for long films and includes 12 films, and the other for short films, which includes 17 films.
The festival will also screen three films as part of the "Arabian Nights" program and eight short films as part of a cooperation program between the Arab Film Foundation in Sweden and Red Star Films.
On the tenth of this month, a discussion session will be held with the Egyptian screenwriter Tamer Habib, in which the actress Mona Zaki will interview, followed by another session with the screenwriter Maryam Naoum, in which the critic Ahmed Shawki will interview her.