Dedication of this edition to the name of Actor/Khaled Saleh Egypt January 20, 1964 - September 25, 2014 1 It is no secret to anybody with foresights that Egypt and other countries in the region are in a state of war against the forces of terror and obscurantism. If the traditional war weapons are the gun, the rifle, the plane and the rest of the well-known instruments, the weapon of arts, culture, and the rest of the elements of soft power are no less effective than weapons with gunpowder… And the ongoing war on terrorism has a first battleground which is the reason and the conscience.. So art comes here at the forefront of priorities ..Enlightening the dark minds and resurrecting the humanitarian feelings in the cold hearts are missions for the arts by excellence ..Hence, comes the importance of art events including film festivals at this particular time… Therefore, this edition of Luxor African Film Festival, that is continuing its success year after year, has a great importance since it is coming amid this atmosphere that besets many world countries including our continent in particular. This magnificent gathering of artists and film lovers from all across our African continent represents a message of love against hate, extremism and envy A message that conveys the values ​​of goodness, justice and beauty against forces of evil, ugliness and shedding of innocent blood ..In brief, One can say that Luxor African Film Festival is an assembly of goodwill creators, the sons and daughters of this great continent, who raises the flags of enlightenment and who upholds the noble human values that defined the human journey through thousands of years as tutored by all religions. We will not exaggerate, if we say that this group of African film creators is in the forefront of the war on terroris m , violence and extremism that is hitting Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Central African, other locations of our beloved continent and the whole world...There is no doubt that bringing them together on the ancient land of Luxor, the land of wisdom, science and knowledge, will give a strong impetus to this great film event whose flag will fly in the art winds along with the shout of all artists to all the word saying that all blood is sacred. Dr. Essam Sharaf Chairman of the Board of Trustees 2 Here is the city of Luxor, the capital of the African pharaohs, festoons for the fourth consecutive time, to receive its distinguished film-making guests who came from our beloved continent and from all over the world. In each edition of the festival, the city of Luxor is awaiting this warm meeting that receives brothers and admirers on its land for them to compete, discuss, debate and acquaint and so their thoughts and hearts shake before their hands carrying Africa’s concerns and anxieties, dreams and hopes. The most wonderful thing about this cinematic ceremony is meeting itself, since we, Africans, are in need now and more than ever to meet each other after a long separation... We need to listen to each other after that we have listened to strangers for a long time. We need to look after our African continent rather than looking to other land while getting inspiration by the wisdom and knowledge of our heritage and our beliefs. We need to exchange information and share capabilities and to memorize the chronicles of our historical leaders to learn from their exploits, courage, heroism and redemption. We must join hands to cultivate the seeds of our lands and to harvest our own the fruits... it is time that the world hear the word “Africa” from the voices of our children. We, the sons of Africa, are more capable of solving our problems, more competent to rebuild our homelands... It is time for us to reunite our efforts to have our beloved Africa free and prosperous. These good wishes are embodied in their finest forms in the meeting of the brothers and lovers of the seventh art on the land of Egypt every year on this same date ... and after the festival close its curtains, they go back to their own home with many happy memories, Let’s us have prepare for the next edition of Luxor African Film Festival with hopes for our countries to become more advanced, secure and prosperous … Mohamed Badr Governor of Luxor 3 Africa in the arms of Egypt Egypt returned to Africa … and Africa returned to the arms of Egypt, after years of isolation and seasons of peregrination due to political differences across the artificial borders. Egypt returned to Africa and so the heart returned to the body… Egypt returned across several bridges of communication, perhaps the most important one Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) that takes its first steps on the land of love and brotherhood, to reach its peak in the fourth edition. Since its first edition, LAFF continues his success, and moves from one phase to the other, until he reached an international status, in terms of the quality of selected films, the multiplicity of events and workshops related to the film industry, the value and stature of guests, as well as the publications and the diversity of seminars… This is the soft power of Egypt that is setting out like rapid horses filling the space of Egyptian, African and World Cinema with great joy… Despite the painful sorrows of Egypt, we only have one choice which is to work together as one hand for the safety of Egypt and humanity since the whole world is in a state of war against the snakes of barbaric terrorism... It is not new for Egypt to advance the ranks of resistance and fight against neo- Tatars… In the same way Egypt conquered Mongol armies and Hulagu, we will prevail in our fight against terrorism you with you, the makers of films, joy, and human enlightenment that must conquer the makers of darkness, grief and terror... Dr. Gaber Asfour Minister of Culture 4 It is a great pleasure for us to have you here, on this dear part of our homeland to participate in the activities of Luxor African Film Festival. This participation has many connotations; first for Egypt that will remain as always a minaret of civilization and arts; second, Whatever setbacks and machinations that Egypt has passed through, it shall, God-willing, pass the obstacles to safety. I’m talking to you today with all hopes that tourism is recovering as milestone in the country’s development in order for us to achieve economic targets to sustainable quality. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Authority are both continuing their efforts to support festivals and touristic events that will promote tourism as an Egyptian product in order to maximize the feedback of these events to improve the image of Egypt as a destination. In that sense, the touristic sector in the government have paid more attention to Luxor African Film Festival in its fourth edition. I would like to take this opportunity of your participation in this festival to invite you to spread the word across your TV programs and movies about coming to photograph and film in our various tourist and archaeological sites across Egypt, the cradle of civilization. And we promise to provide the information about Egypt, its culture and its people Your presence today in Luxor, the cradle of civilization and the pearl of ancient cities in the world, is to inform the world about the safety of our Egyptian tourist locations that welcomes all its distinguished guests. I know that you assume difficult responsibilities towards your home countries, being their soft powers that can reach out to many admirers. For being so, I wish you convey your feelings about your experience in your different media, talks and articles. Please inform the whole world that Egypt is safely regaining its lead role in the region... Egypt opens its gates to the present its civilization... and opens up to other cultures... while fighting primitive ideas ... and believing in freedom of opinion by others... It is time for Egypt to return with strength to Africa like it has been before so arts, cinema and culture start to play a vital role in restoring Egypt to its African identity. Finally, I would like express my sincere appreciation to each and everyone of you for participating in such artistic gathering as the Luxor African Film Festival in its fourth edition... We thank you for honouring us with your companionship and we hope that we always meet with love and goodness for our peoples and our countries. Hisham Zazou Minister of Tourism 5 I would like first of all to express my pleasure about having the Luxor African Film Festival which is today on its fourth edition. The festival has reached a great part of its goals in communicating with the youth of the mother continent Africa. And I would like to underline the expression of my respect to any initiative taken to consolidate and support the relationship between Egypt and African countries especially efforts aiming to young people. At the same time I would like to express my gratitude and esteem for all the efforts deployed by the civil society in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to make this festival happen since its first edition in February 2012. Engineer Khaled Abdel Aziz Minister of Youth and Sports 6 Five Years Five years where the Luxor African Film Festival has instilled the seeds of Africa cinema that it brought from all the parts of our beloved continent to plant them in the great land of Egypt, on the banks of the historic city of Luxor, the matrix of the Pharaonic renewable energy, returning the glitter to the relationship between Egypt and the mother continent.