Unfinished documentary opens Ismailiya Film Festival

The 15th edition of the Ismailiya Film Festival for Documentaries and Short Films opened 23 June with the documentary El Tariq Illa Allah (The Road to God) by late director Shady Abdel El-Salam The film has been screened for the first time and is part of a trilogy that the filmmaker did not finish. The festival honours art director Salah Marei, who had passed away last year. An exhibition of his works on different sets is being held, which include: El-Goua (The Hunger), El-Momiaa (The Mummy), Abnaa El-Samt (The Children of Silence) and Baheb El Cima (I love Cinema). Forty countries will be participating with short and long documentary films, as well as short films and animations in the six-day festival. The president of the festival, filmmaker Magdy Ahmed Aly, said that despite calls for postponing the festival, the festival board refused, since last year's edition was also postponed. He emphasised that arts are the true representation of life, adding that this year more than 100 films are participating from 11 Arab countries including Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. The festival also includes a section titled “A Look Into the Past,” which screens early documentary films by established Egyptian filmmakers. Other sections include “The Revolution as Seen by the Other” and “Women in the Revolution.”