The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has restored nine key works of Egyptian neorealist director Khairy Bishara. The films will premiere as part of a full retrospective of his work at the inaugural Red Sea Film Festival taking place March 12-21, 2020.
The Red Sea International Film Festival will be organising a retrospective at the inauguration to honour the pioneering Egyptian film director, Khairy Beshara. The filmmaker is one of the key proponents of Neo-Realism in Egypt and the Arab World in the 1980s, and the originator of the 1990s youthful cinema and folk fantasy films.
Beshara will attend public screenings of his films in Historic Jeddah, alongside many Egyptian film stars and artists involved in his work.
The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has remastered and restored nine of Beshara’s films including, Floater Number 70 (1982), The Collar and the Bracelet (1986), Sweet Day, Bitter Day (1988), Crab (1990), Ice Cream In Gleam (1992), Strawberry War (1993), and Traffic Light (1995).
In addition to the remastering program, the festival will publish a biography about Khairy Beshara, including unseen archival photographs. The book is edited by film critic Mohammed Sayyed Abdel Raheem.
Graduated from Cairo Higher Institute of Cinema, Beshara made his debut film The Tanks’ Hunter in 1974, and directed more than ten distinctive documentaries and short films during the 1970s, garnering him the title “Star of Documentary Cinema.”
Commenting on the restoration, Festival Director Mahmoud Sabbagh, said: “Khairy Beshara is considered to be one of the main pillars of Egyptian cinema. His work has inspired countless directors of the new generation. Beshara’s films portray deep human meanings and adopt bold and original techniques. With this celebration, we aim to express our gratitude towards Khairy Beshara for his incredible body of work, and to honour Egyptian cinema and its pioneering work.”
