Samir Farid Resigns from CIFF.... Presents Advice For Coming Editions

Film critic Samir Farid has announced his resignation from the presidency of Cairo International Film Festival, due to health-related issues, according to his press statement.

Farid, who has headed the festival's 36th edition, sent a message to Culture Minister Gaber Assfour on the 26th of November, in which he refused to renew his contract as the festival's president, and listed ten advices for the festival's future success, which are:

1- Choosing a new president for the festival at the beginning of December 2014. 2- Creating the 37th edition plan before the end of December 2014. 3- Creating a work schedule spanning the period from the 10th of January to the 10th of November 2015. 4- Continuing the legal framework of the festival. 5- A president for any international festival organized by the ministry of culture should be designated for a minimum of two consecutive editions. 6- Each festival should have its own unique team of organizers and its own title. 7- Discontinuing the opening and closing ceremonies as they were made till the last edition to avoid huge unnecessary costs and because none of the other 13 festivals registered at the international union include such events. 8- Hosting the festival's guests in a hotel from which they can reach the Opera House by foot for their own convenience and to avoid transportation costs. 9- Increasing the monetary fund from the ministry of finance from 6 million EGP to 10 million EGP for the fiscal year 2015-2016 to compensate for the rise in prices. 10- The ministry of finance should allocate enough finances to install the latest projectors inside the Opera House's halls permenantly, instead of renting them for two weeks for more than 1 million EGP.

The festival's management have recently welcomed the minister of culture's decision to form a committee that will revise the 36th edition's financial balance sheets.