07-05-2025
"Saeed Effendi" Selected to Represent Iraq at Cannes Film Festival
Baghdad - INA
The Al-Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham Committee for the Visual Memory of Iraq - Office of the Prime Minister announced today, Wednesday, the selection of the film "Saeed Effendi" to represent Iraq at the Cannes Film Festival.
A statement from the committee, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that "the Al-Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham Committee for the Visual Memory of Iraq - Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq, proudly announced, within the framework of the Iraq Cinematheque project, the selection of the film (Saeed Effendi), directed by Kamran Hosni and produced in 1956, to officially represent Iraq at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, in the Cannes Classics section."
The statement added, "This selection, the first of its kind in the history of Iraqi cinema, is the result of the efforts of the Al-Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham Committee for the Visual Memory of Iraq - Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq, with the support of the French Embassy in Iraq and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and implemented by Expertise France through the Iraq Cinematheque project."
He pointed out that "the film was restored in 4K resolution at the French National Institute of Audiovisual Arts (INA) using the original negative," noting that "the restored copy of the film has been preserved by the Hassan ibn al-Haytham Committee for the Visual Memory of Iraq." The statement continued, "(Saeed Effendi) is based on the story (Shijjar) by Edmond Sabri and is considered one of the most prominent Iraqi classics. This unprecedented step represents a revival of Iraqi cinematic heritage and its transmission to the world through its widest possible doors."
