Manassat Film Festival Spotlights Student Filmmaking at Zawya Cinema
Running from May 29th to 31st, the festival screens over 30 student-led films and workshops that explore theatricality in cinema.
Downtown Cairo’s Zawya Cinema will host the Manassat Film Festival, which is returning for its ninth edition from May 29th to the 31st. Organised by MasrdotBokra for Skills Development, the festival brings together over 30 student films, shorts, and documentaries, positioning itself as a vital space for emerging Egyptian filmmakers to share their stories on screen.
This year’s theme, ‘All The World’s a Manassa’, takes inspiration from Shakespeare’s iconic line, reimagining the world as a stage—and the cinema as a platform for creative expression. The focus is on theatricality, not as opposition to film, but as a creative partner. The programme invites young creatives to blur the boundaries between theatre and cinema, offering a space to take artistic risks and experiment with performance, narrative, and style.
In addition to the film screenings, the festival includes two workshops on its opening day. Costume designer Reem El Adl will lead a session on ‘Costume & Character Design for Film, TV & Theatre,’ while director Moheyeldin Yehia will explore screenwriting in his workshop ‘Can You Write a Fictional Story?’
Among the films being shown are Yehia’s ‘Can You Write a Fictional Story…?!’, Carmen Ghali and Jumana Labib’s ‘I Am the Sun’, Antonious Bassily’s ‘I Can Smell a Rat’, Maysoon Abdelghany’s ‘Father Never Approved of My Toys’, and Amir Youssef’s ‘Apoleon’.
Other featured works include ‘Dagen’ by Yosef Emam, ‘Natah’ by Islam Ahmed, ‘Mama’ by Summer Elfeky, ‘Linda: The Grasscutter’ by Amr Daly, ‘Fionka’ by Rawan El-Ghonimi, and ‘Private’ by Manon El-Gergawy.
All screenings at Manassat Film Festival are free of charge. Tickets can be reserved in person at the Zawya Cinema box office. For more information and updates, follow @manassatfilmfest on Instagram.
