The Acting Syndicate announced the launch of the first edition of Cairo Drama Festival (CDF) set to take place on Wednesday, September 21st 2022. Headed by the iconic Dr. Yehia El Fakharany, the festival will direct the spotlight on the latest season of TV drama that was aired during the holy month of Ramadan 2022. With a wide range of key opinion leaders and icons in the drama industry, the festival will recognize the industry’s exemplary models in 14 different categories. POD Egypt, a UMS company, will be responsible for handling the festival’s public relations and event management. The event will be aired on one of UMS’s channels.

During the ceremony, CDF will announce the name of the winners in the following categories: Best Series, Best Comedy Series, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Rising Actor, Best Rising Actress, Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematographer, Best Location Set, Best Sound Track, and Best Opening Credits.

Headed by legendary director Inaam Mohamed Ali, the festival’s jury meets on a weekly basis to watch, filter and evaluate the participating TV series. Such meetings allow members to analyze the series according to a number of specific evaluation criteria based on the overall quality, this guarantees that nominations are chosen objectively and with full transparency.

The jury encompasses a large group of industry experts in different fields namely, scriptwriter Hatem Hafez, musician Rageh Daoud, actor Ahmed El-Sakka, actor Mohamed Mamdouh, director of cinematography Sameh Selim, film& drama critic Khairiya El Bishlawy, director Tamer Mohsen and actress Sabreen. 

Commenting on this star-studded event, director Inaam Mohamed Ali said that the jury is working on a regular basis, to see all the works nominated in the competition, pointing out that drama professors and esteemed artists and experts evaluate the nominated TV series according to various criteria and techniques. She added that the selection of the jury members took into account the diversity of experiences and ages, ensuring impartiality and objectivity in selecting the winning TV series.

Moreover, the iconic director stressed that this festival is a great opportunity to shed light on real talents and support them to continue presenting high-quality art, worthy of the name of the renowned Egyptian drama. In addition, the festival reflects the state’s interest in enriching this industry and providing the necessary capabilities for its growth and development. The festival comes in light of Egypt's leading role among the countries of the region in art and culture, highlighting that the history of Egyptian drama is full of successful TV series that had a positive influence on the Egyptian and Arab societies.

The Cairo Drama Festival is scheduled to be held annually in September of each year, within the framework of implementing the state’s directions and supporting Egypt’s Vision 2030, concerned with art and culture as one of the pillars of Egypt’s soft forces. The festival reflects the state’s appreciation of art and its enlightening role in society, and highlights the role played by Egyptian drama in shaping the Arab world’s consciousness.

Activities

The Cairo Drama Festival (CDF) rolled out the red carpet for its first edition, at El-Manara International Conference Centre on Wednesday evening.

Dozens of Egyptian and Arab actors and crews gathered Wednesday evening at the El-Manara International Conference Centre in New Cairo to attend the first edition of the Cairo Drama Festival 2022.

Launched by the Cinematic Syndicate and chaired by veteran Egyptian actor Yehia El-Fakharany, the Cairo Drama Festival is sponsored by POD, the public relations and marketing company of the leading Egyptian media production group United Media Services.

The CDF honors work that is produced by Egyptian producers, stars Egyptian actors or works with Egypt as a major location.

The festival was broadcasted live on DMC channel, where the event’s red carpet gathered many renowned actors of various generations, including Samiha Ayoub, Yousra, Elham Shahin, Nadia El Gendy and Nabila Ebeid to Ahmed Elsakka, Nelly Karim, Amir Karara, Dina El Sherbiny, Mohamed Farrag, Menna Shalaby, Asser Yassin and Dorra.

Objective

CDF 22 is set to award a number of the foremost leading drama works from the 2022 Ramadan series, with the expertise of 8 of the industry's most brilliant minds, including: Actor Ahmed El Sakka, Actor Mohamed Mamdouh, Director Tamer Mohsen, Actress Sabreen, Writer Filmography Hatem Hafez, Cinematographer Sameh Selim, Composer Rageh Dawood, Critique Khaireyia El Beshlawy, with the legendary director Enaam Mohamed Ali

Participants

Presented by numerous popular celebrities, the festival hosted various music performances from artists like Medhat Saleh, Hisham Kharma and Ahmed Saad.

Many Egyptian and Arab stars attended the opening ceremony including, Fadia Abdel Ghany, Samiha Ayoub, Yousra, Elham Shahin, Sawsam Badr, Nelly Karim, Riham Abdel Ghafour, Amir Karara, Dina El Sherbiny, Reem Moustafa, Menna Shalaby, Ahmed Dawood, Naglaa Badr, Sahar El Sayegh, Hanady Mehanna, Asser Yassin, Dorra, and Amina Khalil.

The Jury

The festival’s jury members examined more than 20 TV series that screened last Ramadan to analyze the shows in accordance with a number of specific evaluation criteria based on the overall quality to honor their makers.

“The jury watched all 27 competing TV series in 40 days,” stated the jury head, renowned director Enaam Mohamed Ali, who also added that the members “were committed to complete transparency and impartiality.”

Among the examined TV series were “Rageen Ya Hawa”, “El Ekhteyar 3”, “Faten Amal Harby”, “Al Aaedon” ,“Al Meshwar,” “Al Kabir” S6, “Gezira Guam”, “Malaf Seri”, “Dayman Aamer”,“Pablo”, “U-Turn”, and“Suits Bel Arabi”.

The jury further made a special mention for scriptwriter Mohamed Hisham Obia and Ibrahim Issa for their works in Bitlou Al Rouh and Faten Amal Harby, respectively.

The jury members consist of a large group of experts in different fields: Sabrien, Ahmed El-Sakka, Mohamed Mamdouh, director Tamer Mohsen, critic Khairiya Al-Bashlawi, director of photography Mohsen Ahmed, Rageh Daoud, Hatem Hafez, and Medhat Al-Kashef.

Awards

During the ceremony, the winners were announced in the following categories: Best Series, Best Comedy Series, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Rising Actor, Best Rising Actress, Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematographer, Best Location Set, Best Sound Track, and Best Opening Credits.

The winners

The winners were announced as follows:

- Abdel Rahim Kamal won the best screenwriter for the TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”.

- Ahmed Abbass won the best Best Décor for the TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”.

- Islam Abdel-Samei won the best Best Director of Photography for the TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”.

- Menna Shalaby won the best actress award for her performance in the TV series “Bitlou Al Rouh”.

- Ahmed Amin won the best actor for his performance in the TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”.

- Kamla Abou Zekry won the best director for the TV series “Bitlou Al Rouh”.

- Rahma Ahmed won the best rising actress award for her performance in the TV series “Al-Kabir Awy S6”.

- Nour Khaled El Nabawy won the best rising actor award for his performance in the TV series “Rageen Ya Hawa”.

- Nada Moussa won the best supporting actress for her performance in the TV series “Al Meshwar”.

- Riad El -Khouly won the best supporting actor for his performance in the TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”.

- Khaled Al Kammar won the best soundtrack award for the TV series “Faten Amal Harby”.

- TV series “Gizeeret Ghamam”, directed by Hussein El Menbawy, won the best TV series.

- TV series “Al-Mashawar” won the best score in Ramadan 2022 drama marathon.

- TV series “Rageen Ya Hawa” won the best comedy series in Ramadan 2022 drama marathon.

The Honoree

The festival also honored the makers of the TV series “Al-Aaedoun” for their efforts in highlighting Egypt’s stand against terrorism and “El-Ekhteyar” and its makers in gratification for their outstanding performances.

Also Elham Shaheen, Samiha Ayob, Safia El Emary, Laila Elwy, Mohsen Mohy El-Din, Nadia El Gendy, Nabila Ebeid, and Yousra awarded with El-Ebdaa Award.

The festival also honored late stars Samir Ghanem and Dalal Abdel Aziz as well as Mamdouh El Leithy, Mohammed Galal Abdel Kawy, Gamal Abdel Hamid, and Salah El-Saadany.

The festival paid special tributes for the makers of Al-Aaedoun and Al-Ekhteyar for their role in standing against terrorism.

The organizers were keen to honour a number of late artists and drama makers like Samir Ghanem, Dalal Abdel Aziz, Mamdouh El-Leithy, Mohammed Galal Abdel-Kawy, Gamal Abdel Hamid and Salah El-Saadany.

Evaluating the works of late Ramadan season, the festival’s jury featured director Tamer Mohsen, critic Khairiya Al-Bashlawi, cinematographer Sameh Selim, musician Rageh Daoud, writer Hatem Hafez, acting professor Medhat Al-Kashef and actors Sabrien, Ahmed El-Sakka and Mohamed Mamdouh.