Venue
Gezira Island, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt
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Cairo International Film Festival guide
Ten days of film at Gezira's Opera House.
In short
The 47th Cairo International Film Festival runs from 11 to 20 November 2026, centred on the Opera House on Gezira Island with screenings across the city. It suits cinephiles keen on new Arab cinema, international titles and restored classics at one of the few A-category festivals. The full selection is presented shortly before opening, so plan tickets then.
Cairo has run its own international film festival since 1976, which makes it the oldest event of its kind in the Arab world and Africa. For ten days each November the Opera House on Gezira Island rolls out the red carpet, and screens across the city fill with new Arab cinema, international titles and restored classics.
Its standing goes beyond age. FIAPF, the international federation of film producers, gives it A-category accreditation, a status it shares with only about 15 festivals worldwide and no other festival in either region. For Arab filmmakers that means a competition of the top international rank held in their own region.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Ends: Friday, 20 November 2026
Where: Cairo, Egypt
Venue: Cairo Opera House
Held: Every year
Type of event: Film Festivals
Currency: Egyptian pound (E£, EGP)
Time zone: UTC+2; daylight saving (UTC+3) from late April to late October
Language: Arabic
Map
Close to the venue
- Egyptian Museum (Tahrir) Attraction · 1 km
- Mosque of Ibn Tulun Attraction · 2.9 km
- Al-Muizz Street Attraction · 3.5 km
- Khan el-Khalili Attraction · 3.7 km
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
ID and bag checks at the Opera House
Security staff check everyone entering the Opera House grounds. Carry your passport or another photo ID every time, even for a daytime screening, and keep bags small so the search is quick. Large backpacks slow everyone down.
Queues at the gate grow before gala screenings and the ceremonies. Arrive well ahead of the listed time and keep your printed or phone ticket ready.
What to wear to screenings and galas
- Smart casual is fine for most screenings: trousers or a skirt, a clean shirt, decent shoes.
- Galas, the opening night and the closing ceremony call for evening wear, so pack one formal outfit if you hold tickets for those.
- A light jacket works for both: it lifts a casual outfit and covers the walk back after a late film.
- Keep phones silent and their screens dark during films.
Allowing time for Cairo's evening traffic
Cairo's evening rush hour is notorious. Allow far more time than a map app suggests, or take the metro, which ignores the traffic altogether. If you are seeing several films in a day, group them by venue. A screening on Gezira followed by a dinner in Zamalek is far easier than a dash downtown and back, and leaves time to eat before the next film.
What happens on the day
- Opening night
Red carpet
The opening ceremony at the Opera House.
- Following days
Screenings
Spread between the Opera House halls and central Cairo, with workshops, talks and masterclasses alongside.
- Final night
Closing ceremony
The Pyramid awards are presented at the Opera House.
When the programme and ticket sales are announced
Everything hangs on two announcements. First comes the press conference, held a few weeks before opening night, where the full selection is unveiled. Screening times and ticket sales follow. Until then you are planning blind, so book flights and a room early and leave the film choices for later.
When sales open, move fast. Tickets are sold online and at the box offices of the screening venues, and the Arab premieres are the first to disappear. Make a shortlist from the published programme the night before, then buy on the first morning.
Cafés such as Simonds are good for a coffee between screenings. Film professionals should look at Cairo Industry Days, the festival's strand of workshops, meetings and market sessions. Our Egypt travel guide covers the rest of the country if you plan to travel on after the closing night.
How Kamal El Mallakh founded the festival in 1976
The festival began with a complaint. Kamal El Mallakh and a group of fellow critics came home from the Berlin festival asking why Egypt had nothing to match it. In 1976 they answered their own question. For its first seven years, until 1983, the festival was in the hands of Egypt's Association of Film Writers and Critics. In 1985 the state stepped in with a joint committee of the Ministry of Culture and the artists' unions.
Today the programme takes in around 150 films across nine sections. Restored classics share the schedule with an international panorama and a strand gathering standout films from the year's other big festivals. About twenty films make the international competition.
The main awards borrow the city's most famous shapes. The Golden Pyramid goes to the best film, the Silver Pyramid to the best director and the Bronze Pyramid to a new director. In 2024 the top prize was won by The New Year That Never Came. Other honours carry the names of Egyptian greats, which keeps the festival tied to the country's own cinema history even as the programme looks outward.
Getting there
From the airport
Cairo International is in Heliopolis, about 15 km from the centre. An app ride or a metered white taxi is easiest with bags; make sure the meter is on. The airport shuttle to the bus station connects with city buses to Tahrir Square.
On foot
Gezira is joined to both banks by bridges including Qasr El Nil and the 6th October Bridge; crossing Qasr El Nil on foot is a pleasant evening walk.
By metro
Opera station on Line 2 is beside the Opera House grounds; Sadat, one stop away, connects with Line 1. Trains run until 01:00. For central Zamalek, Safaa Hegazy on Line 3 is closer.
At the evening peak
Avoid taxis if you can: a red-carpet start time is easy to miss in a jam on the bridges.
Where to stay during the festival
Zamalek is hard to beat. It shares Gezira Island with the Opera House, and its streets hold hotels for most budgets, from Horus House and the Golden Tulip Flamenco to the Sofitel El Gezirah.
Weather and what to pack
November in Cairo is usually dry and mild, with average highs of about 25°C and lows around 16°C. Mornings are free for sightseeing in comfortable temperatures; evenings by the Nile can be cool.
Worth packing
- A light jacket for evenings
- Smart clothes for the opening or closing ceremony
- Comfortable shoes for the bridges
Car hire in Cairo
Airport transfer to Cairo International Film Festival
Met at arrivals at Cairo International Airport (CAI) and driven door to door to Cairo Opera House.
- Cairo International Airport (CAI) → Cairo Opera House
- 23 km · 25 min
Restaurants and food in Egypt
Places to eat in Egypt before or after the celebrations.
Mohamed Ahmed
17 Shakour Street, Raml Station, Alexandria, Egypt
Cuisine:EgyptianFul
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Sofra Restaurant & Café
90 Mohamed Farid Street, Al Manshiya, Luxor, Egypt
Cuisine:EgyptianMiddle Eastern
- Dine-in
- Outdoor seating
Koshary Abou Tarek
Champollion Street, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt
Cuisine:EgyptianKoshary
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
The audience award, named after Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, carries 20,000 US dollars, so the people in the seats have a real say in the prize list.
Yes. A best Arab film award worth 15,000 US dollars runs alongside the international competition, giving films from the region a prize of their own.
The 45th edition, due in November 2023, was cancelled because of the war in Gaza. The festival came back in 2024 with a full competition.
It is the festival's extended reality programme, returning for its second edition in 2026 as the festival's strand for extended reality projects, shown alongside the conventional film programme.
New Wave, now in its second edition, offers screenings, talks and masterclasses aimed at students and filmmakers at the start of their careers.
The actor Hussein Fahmy remains president, and the critic Mohamed Tarek serves as artistic director, responsible for the film selection.
No. Submissions for 2026 closed on 1 August. Watch the official website for the call for entries for the following edition.
The professional strand brings together Cairo Film Connection, the Cairo Film Market and Cairo Pro-Meet, along with workshops for writers, directors and actors, including screenplay development.
The best screenplay prize is named after the novelist Naguib Mahfouz, and the career achievement awards carry the name of the actress Faten Hamama.
Booking
About 1,200, spread across four levels. The Small Hall holds up to 500, and the complex also has a 600-seat open-air theatre.