Jun 20, 2007, 11:24 GMT
Cairo - Cineasts and cinema fans in Egypt were celebrating one hundred years of filmmaking on Wednesday in a special film festival on the Italian island of Sicily.
On June 20, 1907, the technique of the moving image was employed for the first time in Egypt to document the visit of Egypt's then ruler Khedive Abbas Helmi II to Alexandria.
Al-Ahram newspaper, appearing then from Alexandria, reported the following day that the famous Yassin photography shop in Raml Station Square in Alexandria had used a cinema camera to capture 'the visit of his highness to the academic institute of Morsi Aboul-Abbas Mosque, and how he was received by the scholars and students of the institute.'
Al-Ahram's news item said that the short documentary of the Khedive's visit was going to be shown in a special exhibition to be held the following week in the port city.
To commemorate the centenary of the Egyptian cinema, the 53rd Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, which started Saturday and runs to Friday, selected Egypt as this year's guest of honour.
In Taormina, and throughout the week-long festival, many Egyptian feature films, documentaries and shorts were to be screened 'to give a taste of the history of Egyptian cinema and its remarkable recent works,' the festival's organizers said.
On Wednesday evening, in a big celebration to be held at the Greek theatre in Taormina, the festival plans to honour Egyptian actress Youssra, presenting her with the 'Taormina Arte Award for Cinematic Excellence'.
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