"With my memories I have lit a fire" The Dreamers, Bernardo Bertolucci(2004) Cinema can powerfully capture collective memory and place it onscreen (albeit through the hazy prism of subjectivity) for us to uncannily retrace, again and again. But memories also serve to subvert reality and our shared experience, casting them in a different light, and the terrain of remembrance becomes exceedingly dreamlike with time. Filmed footage is especially deceptive, for it hides under the cloak of objectivity, and thus further muddies the waters between the real and the imagined. ...Read More

Our team at Cimatheque-Alternative Film Centre is very happy to invite you to our upcoming retrospective dedicated to noted documentarian, Atteyat Al Abnoudy (1939-2018). Al Abnoudy's work helped to shape contemporary approaches to Egyptian documentary filmmaking, and her films have only grown in stature over time. In addition to producing deeply affecting documentaries that beautifully capture the lives of society's most vulnerable and marginalized figures, Al Abnoudy was also known for her tremendous generosity of spirit. An early supporter of our initiative, she donated much of her analogue film archive to Cimatheque back when the space was all but an idea in 2011, with the hopes that we would eventually ensure its preservation and future accessibility to a new generation of cinephiles. ...Read More

"Greetings from a failure, to all the successful people" Opening dedication from the film Supermarket (1990), Directed by Mohamed Khan Recorded history bears multitudes. There's the most shared or oft-repeated version, written primarily by the winners- be they conquerors of war, business, or love and then there's the losing side. The narrative that is usually pushed to the side, and is only dug up and brought to light by the enterprising souls among us. Those who are deeply suspicious of the mainstream and popular and who have perhaps experienced more than once the diminishing specter of failure ...Read More

In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Cairo, and Wekalet Behna in Alexandria, Cimatheque is proud to present a selection of Harun Farocki’s works, as part of a program curated by Ali Hussein Al Adawy. The following films will be screened in Cimatheque, featured in parallel to a seminar discussing Farocki’s films....Read More

The "Burden of Dreams": The Intimacy of Political Cinema Taking its cue from Les Blank's 1982 film, Burden of Dreams, Cimatheque's programming for the Spring season hopes to explore the oft-repeated slogan: "the personal is political", and the layers of meaning it entails. Particularly when it comes to making intensely intimate films, produced and presented to the public at enormous risk, be it financial or personal. Laying oneself bare for the camera's gaze to glimpse flaws, capturing moments or though processes that perhaps will not curry favor with everyone, is a frightening thing. This is especially true of cinema that takes political events, and filters them through an increasing y subjective lens revealing that the truth and facts can oftentimes possess different meanings....Read More

Documentary films are typically viewed as a way to simply portray reality as we know it. In pursuit of this, filmmakers gave employed a variety of approaches and experimental techniques to communicate ideas and deeper truths that are not immediately self evident in a form whose parameters seem rather straightforward at least, upon first glance. Blending historical accounts with archival footage, and re-creating or including completely fictionalized scenes are some of the innovative ways in which filmmakers have pushed at the self-contained boundaries of the documentary form. By blurring the lines between a documentary's mission to represent social phenomena, and narrative cinema's attempt to imagine new realities, a multitude of interpretations of the "truth" can be revealed. ...Read More

For the first time ever, a compilation of the 16mm home movies taken by famous Armenian photographer Leon Boyadjian, a.k.a Van-Leo (1921 - 2002) and his brother in the mid 1940s will be screened in Cimatheque -Alternative Film Centre....Read More

The Network of Alternative Arab Screens "NAAS", in cooperation with Cimatheque- the Alternative Film Center, invites you to apply to participate in a discussion group on the Egyptian audience's habits of going to the cinema and watching movies. ...Read More

Most people remember the first time they saw a film that felt truly different. Like a sucker punch to the gut, whether or not the movie in question is something you even liked is oftentimes beside the point. Those moments in the dark, focused onscreen, hold the potential for a deeply transformative experience, and a movie can shape who we are and how we think forever....Read More

Join us for a special tribute to Jeanne Moreau's work. We are screeening two fims; Jules et Jim, and Elevator to the Gallows...Read More

While his career was cut tragically short due to his untimely death in the late 1990s, Hossam Ali’s works remain a testament to his forward-thinking style and unique approach to documentary filmmaking....Read More

In collaboration with Cimatheque – the alternative film center, the French institute introduces:- A program of screenings and discussions on the films that captured the imagination of French film critic Serge Daney (1944 – 1992), and inspired him to write about them....Read More

Documentary film as a genre has seen a kind of resurgence in the last 15 years or so--the proliferation of cheaper and easier to handle digital technology has made it less intimidating for many to take history into their own hands and tell their own stories. Our program for the months of April and May presents a number of documentary films from the region that help to trace the ways in which documentary film language and aesthetics have evolved in the Arab world over time, with special focus on the late 1970s onwards. ...Read More

Book Launch and signing by members of the band, followed by the film screening. Grab your copy of the book before it's too late! It will include a DVD copy of the film, never before seen photos of the band, and other gems revealing Egypt in the 1960s....Read More

Perhaps no other art form is as primal a force as music, one that has the ability to be deeply affecting before we are able to fully intellectualize its impact. A song or melody can capture a moment in time almost as viscerally as a specific scent or taste, while also producing intense scenes of fandom and creating communities. ...Read More

Heralded for his work as a film historian and critic, Sammy El Salamouny was also a prolific director of documentary shorts that attempted to deconstruct cinematic aesthetics while also capturing the intense urban landscape of Cairo. Both The Morning and The Moment are markers of this technique; beautifully experimental films displaying a distinctive visual identity and a multi-layered approach to storytelling, conveying the complex ways in which Egyptians viewed their city in the early 1970s....Read More

One of the most important movie set photographers in Egyptian film history, Mohamed Bakr got his start in the profession in the 1950s, documenting countless behind the scenes moments during the industry's much-lauded "Golden Age." His studio in Giza, which remains open to this day, houses an important photographic archive of mainstream, commercial Egyptian cinema....Read More

Some of cinema's most unforgettable stories are triggered by a sudden rupture in the characters world, leading to an irrevocable sense of loss, paranoia, and the malaise of being tossed aside as an outcast on society's lowest rungs...Read More

The second season of our long-running research based programme, Revisiting Memory, continues this month. The project is in some ways an experimental one, focusing on questions surrounding the film archives—as both practice and theory—in an attempt to widen the conversation about cinema, ownership of history, and the veracity of contentious narratives....Read More

"Observation is a dying art."- Stanley Kubrick We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes."-Franz Kafka We often say that we go to the cinema for entertainment Or at least treat it as a mode of escape. It can also be fair to say that we go to the cinema to learn "stuff"; whatever that may be. Pure escapism can of course be the function of virtually any art for especially music and the movies, but if can also be an incredibly grounding experience. One that gives color and nuance to the world, and ensures that our tentacles remain firmly entrenched in the realities around us, regardless of its difficulties. ...Read More

The second season of our long-running research based programme, Revisiting Memory, continues this month. The project is in some ways an experimental one, focusing on questions surrounding the film archives—as both practice and theory—in an attempt to widen the conversation about cinema, ownership of history, and the veracity of contentious narratives. ...Read More

Films are programmed by fifteen filmmakers (also members of #ACID, formerly programmed in Cannes or whose films were supported during the year) and chosen among hundreds of works from all around the world. #ACID filmmakers follow their love for a film and wish to give visibility to directors whose work is scarcely distributed...Read More

The first general screening programme at Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre, is one that has been in the works for some time. As a burgeoning space, we struggled with many questions regarding the moving image, its history and our position in trying to support a new generation of cinematic storytellers, ensuring that their voices can be heard in our beloved city. ...Read More

Dinner at the Movies: An Event Programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre Start your week by joining us for a night of fun experimentation at Eish & Malh! Come experience an array of shorts, silent films and more contemporary works, alongside a four course dinner tailor-made for the occasion. Dinner at the Movies is an event programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre. ...Read More

Join us for a night of fun experimentation at Eish & Malh. Come experience an array of shorts, silent films and more contemporary works, alongside a four course dinner tailor-made for the occasion. Dinner at the Movies is an event programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre....Read More

Join us for a night of fun experimentation at Eish & Malh. Come experience an array of shorts, silent films and more contemporary works, alongside a four course dinner tailor-made for the occasion. Dinner at the Movies is an event programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre....Read More

Join us for a night of fun experimentation at Eish & Malh. Come experience an array of shorts, silent films and more contemporary works, alongside a four course dinner tailor-made for the occasion. Dinner at the Movies is an event programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre. ...Read More

Join us for a night of fun experimentation at Eish & Malh. Come experience an array of shorts, silent films and more contemporary works, alongside a four course dinner tailor-made for the occasion. Dinner at the Movies is an event programmed by Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre....Read More

Cannes Film Festival's "La Semaine de la Critique" will début for the first time in Cairo during the week of September 16th - September 21st Organized by: Zawya, Cimatheque - Alternative Film Centre, and the Institut Français d'Egypte...Read More

Perhaps what attracts Arab and Western film critics’ attention to Arab films most is how they resemble a reality happening locally and known internationally--at least, that is what I imagine. Critical essays are, at their best, limited by the films’ stories and their social/political significance, neglecting aesthetics and form and how both can be incorporated into the treatment of a certain reality. Accordingly, the cinematic effort is devoid of any artistic element, and it is considered a mirror reflecting the paths of certain characters in a society. This perception of Arab films (which abounds both locally and internationally), can be counted as a result of a decades-long prevalence of naturalism in most films produced in the region. Development of style was seldom an objective for Arab directors, which led to widespread stereotyping in most of the produced films. ...Read More

We would like to invite you to attend a screening of films produced during the Documentary Filmmaking Workshop in partnership with Les Ateliers Varan, mentored by David Tretiakoff and Jean Noel Cristiani. The films were directed by: Dina Hany, Muhammad Mustapha, Marguerite Farag, Youmna Khaled El Khattam, Qusay Asaad, Mohammed Adel Abd El Azim, and Usama Ghanoum. The screening will take place on August 13, 7:00 p.m at Cimatheque...Read More

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Cairo for the second edition of the NAAS series of Arab Arthouse Cinema Workshops. The hope is that these brief five days create a space that manifests the potential of our collective strength when we are together in one place, even briefly, with the time and focus to think together through our experiences, stories and hopes....Read More

Revisiting Memory is a project that emerged after coming across many images and archival pieces over the past few years, randomly and sometimes by coincidence. Our team became fascinated by the possibilities this material presented, and excited about the prospect of eventually sharing it with the public. The project has since developed, and now includes broader questions we have been asking ourselves: what is the role of a film archive in Egypt, and to what extent can the fleeting nature of an image lend itself to a deeper understanding of a country's mood, or shifts in perspective? ...Read More

On April 22nd 2015, a roundtable on film distribution will be hosted at our premises in cooperation with the AFAC film week. The roundtable will be moderated by Rima Mismar and gathered by Khalid Abdalla (Cinecima), Mohamed Shawky Hassan(NAAS) and Yousef Chazly (Zawya Distribution) in a skype conversation with Diana El Jaroudi (DoxBox) ...Read More

This film programme is an attempt to understand the contested relationship between us and the city, being more than mere geographic areas in which we reside in the here and now. Cities are problematic, in their past or present, in their sense of transformation or stillness. Regardless of criteria, there remains a complicated relationship between the individual/filmmaker and the city/locale in which he resides. For the city is the anchor that fortifies our identities, raising questions beyond the cliché of belonging. This relationship is an ongoing process of questioning the meaning of “Belonging” itself, turning the tangible geographic mass into a psychological, emotional, and mental one, harboring conflicting feelings. ...Read More

In 2015, the Think:Film Award was awarded for the second time during Forum Expanded. The prize, which includes a presentation at Cinema Arsenal as well as at the Cimatheque – Alternative Film Centre in Cairo, was awarded in conjunction with the Allianz Cultural Foundation....Read More

Cimatheque launches the second session of its Kurrasat Al-Cimatheque programme. This session includes five film screenings open to the public, programmed and presented by film critic Taher Chikhaoui. The screening programme includes experiments from contemporary Arab cinema in search of their own language....Read More

From June 22 to 26, 2014, in cooperation with Cimatheque – alternative film centre, the Robert Bosch Stiftung will organize its first Project Market in Cairo to introduce the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for international cooperation Germany/Arab World. ...Read More

Cimatheque is launching the first “Kurrasat Al Cimatheque” screening programme Five screenings, programmed and presented by Kais Al Zubaidi; filmmaker, academic and film critic and Tahar Chikhaoui; artistic director of the International Encounters for Arab Cinema “Les Rencontres d’Aflam” Festival in Marseille ...Read More