Cairo's Shnit Sends Block of Egyptian Short Films to Its Swiss Counterpart

An Intercontinental Cinematic Exchange

Cairo's Shnit Sends Block of Egyptian Short Films to Its Swiss Counterpart

Straight from the birthplace of the Shnit Short Film Festival, a block of Swiss films are sent over for this year's Opening event of the festival in Cairo on October 8th, 2015. Part of what seems as the perfect deal, the Cairene Shnit has handed in return a block of impressive home-grown films to screen at the heart of the capital of the world's finest chocolates.

The Egyptian line-up of shorts include: Sherif El Bendary's Rise and Shine, Omar El Zohairy's The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375, Nadine Salib's Dawn, Emad Maher's Zakaria, Omar Khaled's Kaako, Omar Elhamy's Only Fruits and Youssef Al Imam's Speed of light.

Celebrating the Shnit's 13th edition, the Swiss capital, Bern, will host two Egyptian short filmmakers to attend the festival screenings of their films.

The festival's yearly cornerstone is Shnit OPEN which comprises the world's best 60 short films of the last year in all genres, fiction, documentary, animation and beyond. On the other hand four film blocks put together for all kinds of special interests and moods: FEEL GOOD Shnit which finds balance in the perfect blend of love, life and lust, with an added pinch of spice, and space for comedic moments of surprise. BAD LUCK includes humorous and gleefully dark films in honour of the 13th Shnit edition.

Shnit DOCUMENTS tells the stories of socially explosive, far-reaching true-life experiences. Shnit ANIMATES allows us the entrance to a fabulous world that we thought could only exist in our imagination. The film block SWISS MADE is filled with the newest shorts from Switzerland.

In addition, two film blocks are presented by the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) and MAD Solutions; FATTA that includes short films from the Arab World reflecting its various moods and conflicting ideals. From the narrative to the documentary to the experimental, the Arab flavored programme offers a comprehensive look at the state of young Arab filmmakers today such as; Naji Abu Nowar, Nayla Al Khaja, Naji Ismail, Bassem Chekhes and Omar El Zohairy. BIG NAMES | small films is a film block of shorts that will proof that successful actors don't shy away from the short stories.

ONCE UPON A TIME is a film block curated by SEMAT that shows three films of filmmakers that started off their career with a short film produced by this very same independent production company.

In its fourth round in Egypt, this year the festival is spreading in Cairo and the short films will be screened at the Greek Campus (AUC's Downtown campus), Goethe Institute, Cinema Radio and Rawabet in Downtown, the Cooperation Office of the Swiss Embassy in Garden City and the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Zamalek. Additionally, these venues will host a number of panel discussions and events for film enthusiasts.

Head of the brand new team for the Shnit festival in Cairo is the director and producer Wael Omar, while MAD Solutions will run the promotional work.

Not only the festival, but also its prizes have a growing reputation: The short films are competing for the five flaming faun awards, of which each one includes a grant of 20'000 USD. The 13th edition of the festival screens its films simultaneously in several cities around the globe in a worldwide celebration of short films: Hong Kong in China, Bangkok in Thailand, Bern in Switzerland, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Cape Town in South Africa, Moscow in Russia, and San José in Costa Rica.