Sunday: The launch of the VS-FILM Festival for Very Short Films, in the presence of stars of Arab and international cinema

 The activities of the second edition of the “VS-FILM Very Short Film Festival” will begin next Sunday. In the city of Ain Sokhna, in the presence of Dr. Tarek El Shazly, Governor of Suez, and a large number of stars and makers of Arab and international cinema.

The festival displays at the opening ceremony the rare and restored short film “Suez, My City” By the late great director Ali Abdel Khaleq, and it is one of the first films he directed at the beginning of his cinematic career.

 

The festival includes two competitions, the first for films whose duration does not exceed 5 minutes, and the second for films whose duration does not exceed 10 minutes. In its new session, the festival received approximately 2,500 films, which were filtered down to 300, and distributed among the festival’s two competitions and the official festival sections outside the competition, and shared in presenting them in both languages. Arabic and English media presenter Bossi Shalabi and Dr. Yasmine Bakir.

 

The festival, during the opening ceremony held on the shore of the Red Sea, honors the star Ashraf Abdel Baqi in recognition of his cinematic career, which he began at an early stage in his artistic career, during which he presented more than 65 films, most of which achieved a presence on the podiums of local and international film festivals, including “Tamarind Milk Fish.” And "rapists" And "Ladies and Misses" , and “The Egyptian Citizen” And "Oh, Mahlaba, Oh" And "Terrorism and Kebabs" And "any" And "a warning to obey" And “Why, Violet?” And "Romantica and Dead Full" And "reparation of thoughts" And "The Dove Hunter" And "On the side, O Usta" , and “a dash of boldness” and "the president’s chef" And "Girls’ Love" And “I want to take off” and "cholesterol-free" And “Who would believe it.”

 

Ashraf Abdel Baqi expressed his appreciation for honoring him at the festival, noting that the honor increases the artist’s enthusiasm to present more and more successful works.

 

The festival also honors the star Hanan Motawa, whose honor coincides with the nomination of her latest film, “Happy Birthday Day.” To represent Egypt in the Oscars competition, Hanan expressed her appreciation for the festival and her happiness at being honored in a specific film festival for very short films, explaining that there is a condition that links her to short films, and that in addition to being an actress who loves this type of film, she is also one of its fans and viewers, noting that very short films, despite what appears to be an easy industry, are very difficult to write and execute.

 

The festival also honors the artist. The great Hala Sedqi, in recognition of her artistic career full of distinguished dramatic works in cinema and television, the number of works she presented reached more than 175 cinematic, television and theatrical works, foremost of which are the films: "The Escape" And "Oh my world, my love" And the "spy trap" And "it’s a mess" and "reaction" And "Don’t come to dance" and "Alexandria, New York" And “We love to live freedom.” And “We are the owners of the airport.” And "apple" And "attempted murder" And "Crime in the Depths" And "sixes" And "rabbit invasion" And others.

 

Hala Sedqi expressed her appreciation for the festival’s management, expressing her happiness with the honoring in the valiant Suez Governorate and among its audience from Suwaissa, explaining that the festival has achieved important steps since its launch in establishing a real industry for very short films whose duration does not exceed 5 and 10 minutes.

 

She indicated that this type of films has spread. globally in recent years after the spread of social media, with many of them achieving awards from international festivals.

 

The list of honorees includes: Pioneer animation producer Abbas Ibn Al-Abbas, in recognition of his distinguished artistic career and contributions, as he founded one of the huge entities that produced many famous animation works for Arab screens, most notably the film “The Knight and the Princess.” It is the first feature-length Arab animated film, directed by the late Bashir Al-Deek, and starring Mohamed Henedy, Hanan Turk, Abla Kamel, Majed Al-Kedwany and others. It is an experiment that took 25 years to implement until it came to light.

 

Ibn Al-Abbas stressed that honoring him is a tribute to all animation artists in the Arab world, stressing that the making of this artistic genre has witnessed great development over recent years. He pointed out that there is a strong attraction among young people towards animation.

 

He added: “Animation is the first art that attracts children in the early years, and our children’s minds are shaped by the messages that cartoon works carry, so it is the most important dramatic art through which we can form our children’s awareness.”

 

The great director Omar Abdel Aziz chairs the jury, and it includes Its membership is from Egypt: the artist Chery Adel, the artist Manal Salama, and the professor of animation, Dr. Mohamed Ghaleb, and from France, the director Jean-Marie Villeneuve, who was chosen in 2014 as the best director in Indiana Police for his poignant comedy film “The Generous”. From England, the director and screenwriter, Dr. Peter Lloyd, a professor at the British University, and from Nigeria, the director, producer, and screenwriter, Desmond Ovbiageli, the owner of the first Nigerian film nominated for the 93rd Academy Award, which is the film The Milkmaid, which was inspired by the rebellion in the northeast of the country. The film also won 5 awards from the African Film Academy. The festival was keen to form a committee that included diverse local and international cinematic and artistic expertise and expertise, including directing, acting, production, script writing, and animation, with the aim of creating cinematic movement among the advanced films that would be subject to precise criteria in selecting the winning works.

 

He explained that the festival was keen, since its inception, to seek the help of international filmmakers with the aim of establishing solid rules for making the very short film, and benefiting from the presence of this expertise in the jury committees and making workshops. Films.

 

For his part, Mr. Ziad Basmir, Executive Director of the festival, said that the number of films submitted to compete for the awards for the second session has greatly doubled compared to the first session, pointing out that the Universities of Suez and Galala will host a number of events, including workshops and film screenings, including workshops on film making in which a group of the most prominent names in Arab and international cinema will lecture, such as the famous director and producer Amjad Abu Al-Ala and director Ashraf. Excellent.

 

The festival organizes Arab cinema nights, dedicating Tuesday, November 4, 2025, to the new Saudi cinema, and displays a group of recent films in their first international screenings in the presence of their makers. The screenings are followed by a symposium in which critics, journalists, and artists participating in the festival participate, and a lively concert performed by Arab singing star Hammam Ibrahim and his band. Musical.

 

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