Daoud Abd El Sayyed and Mohsena Tawfiq Receive Appreciation Awards, Cinematographer Tarek Hefny the Encouragement Award

State appreciation and encouragement awards were announced yesterday during the 50th yearly meeting of the Supreme Council for Culture, presided over by the Minister of Culture Mohamed Saber Arab.

Daoud Abd El Sayyed, the highly acclaimed director of " El Kit Kat," won the appreciation award for the arts along with Mohsena Tawfik, the film and theater actor.

The Nile award for the arts, the most prestigious Egyptian art award, was awarded to Mahfouz Abd El Rahman, acclaimed screenwriter for film and television. For literature, the Nile award went to poet Ahmed Abdel Moaty Hegazy, previously shortlisted for the appreciation award.

The Excellence award for literature went to Mohamed Nagy, author of "Morning Song," and Nessim Megally, a translator and a critic.

Director of photography Tarek Hefny received the encouragement award for cinematography for the acclaimed 2011 film " Microphone."