Photos: On the Red Carpet, Opening Night of the 35th Cairo Film Fest

Wednesday marked the opening night of the 35th annual Cairo International Film Festival, drawing out a huge number of actors, filmmakers and celebrities hailing from Egypt and the Arab world at large. The stars who turned out dressed for the big opening ceremony, strutting down the red carpet in all their glamour in front of the Egyptian press.

The major difference this year was the prevalence of celebrities dressed in black, a nod to current events in Egypt. Many stars chose last minute to swap their glitzy evening wear for something simpler in black.

Despite the absence of a number of celebrities due to current politics, the festival still churned out a glittering array of filmmakers and stars of the silver screen, including Layla Alwi, Yousra, Lucy, Fefi Abdu, Madlen Taber, Ayman, Maya Diab, screenwriter Tamer Habib, Chaouki Mejeri, Elham Shaheen, Khaled Abo ElNaga, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Manal Salama, Menna Shalaby, Boshra, Hatem Fahmy, Anouchka, Maged El Masry, author Medhat El Adl, Sanaa Youssef, director Enas El Dighade, composer Hani Mehanna, Mariam Abou-Ouf, Mahmoud Kabel, Ghada Ibrahim, Entesar and more!