CAIRO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has successfully organized film festivals with precautionary measures in 2021, Chairman of the Sharm El-Sheikh Film Festival Gamal Zyada said on Thursday.
"In 2021, Egypt has overcome the repercussions of the pandemic by organizing film festivals with full activities," Zyada said, adding that in the past few months, Egypt has successfully organized the Luxor African Film Festival, Aswan International Women Film Festival, Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival and El Gouna Film Festival.
Moreover, the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival will take place on Nov. 26 with the participation of 98 films from 63 countries.
All the film festivals have been organized with strict precautionary measures taken by the Health Ministry to control the spread of COVID-19.
"The world will not stop cultural and art events," Zyada told Xinhua, adding that this year's El Gouna Film Festival recorded zero infections.
Organizing festivals play a significant role in activating Egypt's tourism and travel flows, he added. Most of the cinema festivals have been held in the country's tourist cities like Luxor, Aswan, El Gouna and Cairo to revive the tourism ailing sector.
Meanwhile, Zyada believes that the Egyptian film industry is still short of films, noting that Egypt currently produces eight movies annually compared to around 120 in the previous years, and the decline was not only attributed to COVID-19 pandemic, but also to problems of production and distribution. Enditem
