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Two Turkish films won major awards at the Cairo International Film Festival, which closed with a tribute to Palestinian child Hind Rajab.
The 46th edition was marked by the largest Turkish participation in the festival’s history, including jury leadership and multiple film screenings.
Renowned Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan chaired the jury of the International Competition for Feature Narratives, responsible for selecting the winner of the Golden Pyramid, the festival’s highest honor.
According to a statement issued Saturday by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, the two Turkish films “The Things We Kill” (Oldurdugumuz Seyler) won the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay, and “The Breath We Take” (Aldigimiz Nefes) received the Bronze Pyramid Award in the festival’s 46th edition.
The 46th edition came to a close after a prominent Turkish participation that included the screening of five feature films and one short film, in addition to chairing the jury of the festival’s top award, marking the largest Turkish presence in the history of the event since its launch in 1976.
The lineup of participating Turkish films included “Kanto,” “Not What You Think,” and the Oscar-submitted film “One of Hamma’s Dying Days,” along with the two titles competing in the Best International Film category—“The Breath We Take” and “The Things We Kill”—as well as the short film “We Need to Talk About Dylan.”
Turkish artists and filmmakers took part in the festival’s special screenings, which featured 150 films across 11 competitions.
Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo, Salih Mutlu Sen, said that “the spotlight was on Türkiye” throughout the festival, noting the two Turkish film awards and Ceylan’s chairmanship of the international jury.
He added in a post on X that the event saw the presence of a “large delegation” of Turkish artists, expressing his pride and happiness, extending his congratulations to the participating filmmakers, and thanking the festival organizers and their president, Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmy.
The closing ceremony was held on Friday evening at the Grand Theater of the Cairo Opera House.
On the sidelines of the festival, the Turkish Embassy in Cairo hosted a reception for the Turkish delegation a week earlier, attended by officials and artists from both Egypt and Türkiye.
During the event, the Turkish ambassador reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening cultural and artistic cooperation between the two countries, highlighting the shared heritage between Egyptian and Turkish cinema and their mutual influence dating back to the early 20th century.
He noted the prominent place that Egyptian cultural figures such as Youssef Chahine, Omar Sharif, and Umm Kulthum hold within Turkish artistic circles, expressing hope that the shared stories between the two countries could be transformed into joint film and television productions.
Berol Guven, director general of cinema at Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, also voiced his satisfaction with Türkiye’s historic participation this year, affirming his country’s readiness to deepen cinematic cooperation.
For his part, festival president Hussein Fahmy praised the distinguished Turkish presence, saying it reflects cinema’s role as a bridge for cultural exchange between nations, and that Ceylan’s leadership of the jury sends a “strong message” about the stature and rich legacy of Turkish cinema.
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