Rim Shaker:- Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has revealed the official poster for its 46th edition, taking place from November 12 to 21, 2025, under the presidency of renowned actor Hussein Fahmy and the patronage of Egypt’s Ministry of Culture.
This year’s poster presents a profound visual vision that transcends the boundaries of traditional advertising, opening up a symbolic and intellectual space that captures the essence of cinema and the spirit of the festival. The design transforms into a poetic and modern tableau, offering a renewed reading of the festival’s identity as a platform for aesthetic and intellectual renaissance, and as a perpetual laboratory of imagination and creativity.
At the center of the composition, a young woman strides forward toward the light, symbolizing a moment of rebirth—an emergence from darkness into life. Her movement embodies transformation and liberation, evoking the spirit of the late sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar’s iconic statue “Egypt’s Renaissance,” where an Egyptian woman lifts her veil in a moment of awakening and cultural revival. Both symbols—the sculpted woman and the poster’s figure—convey the same idea: enlightenment through light and knowledge, and the restoration of human consciousness in facing the world.
Commenting on the poster, Hussein Fahmy, President of CIFF, said:
> “We wanted the poster to mirror the essence of cinema and humanity’s journey with light. The central figure represents humankind’s eternal pursuit of knowledge and creativity, inspired by the symbolism of Mokhtar’s Egypt’s Renaissance—an emblem of awareness and rebirth. Cinema, like all great arts, is a path toward light, a space for self-discovery, and a means to reshape our vision of the world. From past to future, from individual vision to collective dream, cinema remains an ever-renewing act of renaissance that touches the soul and rekindles the world’s light.”
He added:
> “In designing the poster, we combined black and white with color to affirm that the great era of black-and-white cinema—the foundation of Egypt’s artistic and cultural renaissance in the past century—remains our cornerstone. Today, with passion and ambition, we seek to revive that spirit with a contemporary outlook, using colors that reflect the vitality of our present and the aspirations of new generations for the future.”
The poster was designed by artist Ziad El Samahy from FP7 McCann Cairo, who explained his concept:
> “Cairo International Film Festival honors the legacy of Egyptian cinema while looking forward with renewed spirit and vibrant colors. The poster portrays a young woman—symbolizing the festival itself—walking confidently toward the future while glancing back in reverence to the golden heritage of Egyptian cinema. By wiping away the traces of time from a black-and-white film frame, she embodies the magic of restoration and cinema’s hope to revive the past and shape the future—adding color and wonder to reality.”
The illuminated face in the poster conveys a gaze of awakening and discovery, as if witnessing truth for the first time. The chromatic spectrum radiating from behind her head transforms into a symbolic film strip linking memory to the future, expressing the festival’s timeless message: cinema is the human light that dispels darkness and grants humanity a renewed vision of itself and the world.
The graded gray background reflects the transition between old and new, stillness and movement, while the number 46, rendered in geometric white typography, marks a new phase in the festival’s history—one rooted in a rich artistic heritage yet confidently looking forward.
In this sense, the poster becomes a contemporary expression of the Egyptian Renaissance through a cinematic lens—a renaissance of visual consciousness and artistic self-expression. If Mokhtar, in the early 20th century, envisioned Egypt’s awakening and identity through sculpture, then Cairo International Film Festival, in the 21st century, conveys that same dream through cinema—as a new force of light that enlightens consciousness and reshapes the collective imagination.
Cairo International Film Festival, founded in 1976, is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the Arab world and Africa. It remains the only festival in the region accredited as a Category “A” festival by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in Paris. The festival is held annually under the patronage of Egypt’s Ministry of Culture.
