25-05-2025
A global focus on the Egyptian Media Hub at Cannes Film Festival
The designated space for the Egyptian Media Hub at the 78th Cannes Film Festival witnessed a state of vigor and vitality. It has become a meeting point for Egyptian content creators with their peers from across the globe, in addition to a number of diplomats concerned with getting a closer look at the Egyptian film industry.
Among the most prominent visitors was Indonesian Minister of Culture, Fadli Zon, who tackled collaboration opportunities between Egypt and Indonesia. There were also a number of chairmans of international and Arab film festivals.
The platform has received considerable attention from global media. Screen Daily and Variety have published extensive reports on the leading role of the platform. It represents a new initiative aiming at supporting a promising generation of Egyptian filmmakers and promoting Egypt's presence in the global market, through the provision of production, filming, editing, and visual effects services.
Furthermore, Associated Press noted that the Egyptian Media Hub is regarded as the first platform designated to present Egyptian cinema, tell local stories, and shed light on Egyptian culture. This initiative is led by Shahinaz El-Akkad, with the support of pioneering figures, with the aim of connecting Egyptian talents with global audiences.
The mission of the platform is multifaceted; promoting international presence of Egyptian cinema, supporting the industry's growth on the global level, celebrating the industry's history and future, creating bridges of communication between veteran filmmakers and the new generation, fostering ties with global entertainment hubs, and presenting Egyptian and Arab culture in global forums, like the Cannes Film Festival.
In this regard, the platform's founder, Shahinaz El-Akkad, stated, "I've attempted to unite a number of entities under a single umbrella to promote the global reach of Egyptian content beyond conventional limits, promote stories that reflect Egyptian community in its diversified dimensions, and shed light on the artistic and production potentials that Egypt offers worldwide".
El-Akkad added, "Egyptian content is highly demanded in the region. Indeed, we aspire to expand further into Asian, African, and European markets in order to reach innovative openness and deep cultural collaboration. There are rich experiences and stories that haven't been released yet in a fascinating way on screens. Our objective is conveying culture and stories to a global audience, as well as highlighting Egypt as a promising cinematic destination on the global production map".
Moreover, El-Akkad stressed that the Egyptian film industry, as the oldest in the region, deserves a platform which celebrates the creativity of its people to reach a global level.
El-Akkad added, "Following our success in MIPCOM, as we represented over eight companies and received considerable attention, we are keen on continuing this journey in one of the most prominent film markets in the world in order to shed light on our beautiful culture and present it to a massive global audience".
This year, the platform takes part in the Cannes Film Festival; the world's most prominent film festival, through a unique pavilion held under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. 13 cinematic and entertainment entities from the public and private sectors, including production, distribution, writing, editing, and visual effects fields, took part in the event. Among the most prominent figures that participated in the event were: Shahinaz El-Akkad, Mohamed Hefzy, Ahmed Badawy, Aly El-Araby, Mohamed Abdul Wahab, Mariam Naoum, Hisham Fathy, Alaa Lashin, Adli Toma, Cédric Aoun, Marwa Abu Leila, and Nadine Abdel Ghaffar.
It is noteworthy that this year's Cannes Festival market hosted over 15000 film professionals and included over 4000 films and projects from 140 countries across the world. This highlights the importance of the notable Egyptian presence as a new step towards further global interaction and shared creativity.
