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Mohamed Hefzy
Running a socially-distanced film festival in one of the most populous cities in the world was never going to be straightforward.
Add in the rumour of a royal procession to celebrate the transfer of 22 3,000-year-old mummies to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, that would bring city centre traffic to a standstill, and the organisers of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) were facing logistical challenges on another scale entirely.
In the end, the procession of mummies was delayed until after the festival closes today (December 10) and CIFF president Mohamed Hefzy and head of industry Aliaa Zaky saw CIFF unfold in its traditional hub of the Cairo Opera House complex and the new location of the Marriott Hotel. International industry guests and Egyptian film professionals networked on the terrace and in the high-ceilinged drawing rooms of the historic 19th Gezirah Palace around which the hotel is built.