Cairo, September 7, 2023
The 30th CIFET closing ceremony, chaired by Dr. Sameh Mahran, will take place today, Friday September 8th, at 8 p.m. in the main hall of the Cairo Opera House and will be broadcast live on Al-Hayat, in the presence of Dr. Neveen Al-Kilany, Minister of Culture, and a large number of Egyptian, Arab, and foreign stars and celebrities
Egyptian actress Nourhan is presenter of the festival’s closing and awards ceremony. Superstar Mahmoud Hemida will be the ceremony’s special guest, giving a short 7-minute presentation about theater experimentation and its role in the advancement of human experience. “Hemida” was chosen because he is one of the Egyptian theater’ sons and one of Egypt’s most prominent stars in recent decades. He welcomed the idea of participating in the CIFET’s closing ceremony in recognition of the festival’s value among international theater festivals
Hani Afifi directs the closing ceremony show. Participants include Tamer Diai, Sara Adel, and Diaa El-Din Zakaria with Sally Ahmed choreographing dances, decor by Mohamed Al-Gharbawi, graphics by Reda Salah, lighting by Yasser Shaalan, costumes by Marwa Odeh, film material by Romany Khairy, rhythms by the Oscarisma band, percussionist Ahmed Rozza, and Assistant Directors Mahmoud Tantawi, Rina Andraos, Fathi Ismail, Maryam Abdel Shahid, Maysoon Hussein, and Sami Salama
Following the show, Dr. Neveen Al-Kilany gives her speech, which is followed by Dr. Sameh Mahran’s speech, then a short film about the festival’s 30th edition activities, the jury’s recommendations, and the announcement of the awards, during which the Minister of Culture and the festival’s president hand awards and certificates of appreciation to the winners
The Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater aims to reconsider the state of experimentation in Arab and world theater, to reveal and discuss the established aesthetics and forms, and to demonstrate their pros and cons. Therefore, this edition does not discuss experimentation in general, but rather experiments that differ based on global cultural diversity. The 30th edition is rethinking the experimentation scenario from the perspective of cultural geography, which is concerned with studying culture from the perspective of life situations and exploring the experience of a place that embraces culture