The 33rd annual Cairo International Film Festival was held from November 10 to November 20, 2009. Indian director Adoor Gopalakrishnan was the president of the jury.

Films in competition The following films competed for the Golden Pyramid.

English title Original title Director(s) CountryLuisa Gonzalo Calzada I Believe In Angels Vjerujem u Anđele Niksa Svilicic The Nile Birds عصافير النيلMagdy Ahmed Ali Letters to Father Jackob Postia Pappi Jaakobille Klaus Härö The HedgehogLe hérissonMona Achache Slaves in Their Bonds Οι Σκλάβοι στα Δεσμά τουςAdonis Lykouresis The Days of Desire Vágyakozás Napjai Jósef Pacskovszky Madholal Keep Walking Jai Tank New York Kabir Khan The Friends at the Margherita Cafe Gli amici del bar Margherita Pupi Avati Vortex DuburysGytis Luksas Crossword Destinies فينك اليام Driss Chouika Tiny Dust, True Love Shen Dong Splinters Drzazgi Maciej Pieprzyca Amália Carlos Coelho da Silva One War Одна Война Vera Glagoleva I Saw The Sun Güneşi Gördüm Mahsun Kırmızıgül

Digital Competition The following films were screened in the Digital Competition for Feature Films category.

English title Original title Director(s) Country (Un)Lucky زهر Fatma Zohra Zamoum Open Diaries Sasha A. Schriber Exile in Paris Paris d'exil Ahmet Zirek C.V. Attached Im Anhang: Lebenslauf Andrea Schorr Tenderness Τρυφερότητα Panagiotis Karamitsos Witches Circle Boszorkanykor Dizso Zsigmond First Time Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam The Rapture of Fe Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe Alvin Yapan Contract Contrato Nicolau Breyner Wait For Me and I Will Not Return Čekaj me, ja sigurno neću doći Miroslav Momcilovic Xtrems Abel Folk, Joan Riedweg New Year's Eve Jhake R. Wells The Watcher Bekçi Özcan Tekdemir Godforsaken Jamil Dehlavi

Arab Competition The following films were screened in the Arab Competition for Feature Films category.

English title Original title Director(s) Country Journey to Algiers رحلة الى الجزائر Abdelkrim Baloul Heliopolis مصر الجديدة Ahmad Abdalla The Nile Birds عصافير النيل Magdy Ahmed Ali Tale of a Mchaouchi Wrestler موسم المشاوشة Mohamed Ahed Bensouda Crossword Destinies فينك اليام Driss Chouika Amreeka أمريكا Cherien Dabis / Pomegranates and Myrrh المر و الرمان Najwa Najjar The Long Night الليل الطويل Hatem Ali Thirty ثلاثون Fadhel Jaziri Buried Secrets أسرار دفينة Raja Amari A Very Beautiful Trip سفرة يا محلاها Khaled Ghorbal /

Films out of competition The following films were screened out of the competition.

English title Original title Director(s) CountryA Fly in the Ashes La mosca in la ceniza Gabriela David Forever waiting Hoy no se fía, mañana sí Francisco Avizanda /Cairo Time Ruba Nadda The Traveller المسافرAhmed Maher Teza Haile Gerima //MarchalMR 73Olivier Marchal A Widow at Last Enfin veuveIsabelle Mergault Client (A French Gigolo) Cliente Josiane Balasko Home Yann Arthus-Bertrand Lost Times Utolsó idők Áron Mátyássy Dawn of the World فجر العالم Abbas Fahdel //Casanegra كزانكراNour Eddine Lakhmari Ward No. 6 Палата № 6 Karen Shakhnazarov Day of Defeated Dehb nepemome hux Yamburskiy Valeriy The Soloist Joe Wright //New Town Killers Richard Jobson The Limits of Control Jim Jarmusch /

Juries

International Competition Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Indian director (President) Belkacem Hadjadj, Algerian director Marcelo Mosenson, Argentinian producer Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Canadian actress and director Hala Fakher, Egyptian actress Moustafa Fahmi, Egyptian actor and cinematographer Giuseppe Piccioni, Italian director, writer, actor and producer Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Lithuanian actress Krzysztof Krauze, Polish director and screenwriter Ioana Maria Uricaru, Romanian director Juan Diego Botto, Spanish actor Tom Berenger, American actor

Digital Competition Victor Okhai, Nigerian director, writer and producer (President) Nadia Kaci, Algerian actress Marianne Khoury, Egyptian director and producer Imma Piro, Italian actress Vikas Swarup, Indian writer Joanna Kos-Krauze, Polish director and screenwriter Rachid Ferchiou, Tunisian director and screenwriter Norma Heyman, English actress Edreace Purmul, American director

Arab Competition Yehia El-Fakharany, Egyptian actor (President) Lyès Salem, Algerian director Ghada Adel, Egyptian actress Kassem Hawal, Iraqi director Sana Mouziane, Moroccan actress Mai Masri, Palestinian director

Awards The winners of the 2009 Cairo International Film Festival were:

Golden Pyramid: Postia Pappi Jaakobille by Klaus Härö Silver Pyramid: Le hérisson by Mona Achache Best Director: Mona Achache for Le hérisson Saad El-Din Wahba Prize (Best Screenplay): Klaus Härö for Postia Pappi Jaakobille Best Actor: Fathy Abdel Wahab for The Nile Birds Subrat Dutta for Madholal Keep Walking Best Actress: Karolina Piechota for Drzazgi Naguib Mahfouz Prize (Best Directorial Debut): Gonzalo Calzada for Luisa Youssef Chahine Prize (Best Artistic Contribution): Vera Glagoleva for Odna voyna Best Arabic Film: Amreeka by Cherien Dabis Best Arabic Screenplay: Cherien Dabis for Amreeka Arabic Film Special Mention: Heliopolis by Ahmad Abdalla The Long Night by Hatem Ali Golden Award for Digital Films: The Rapture of Fe by Alvin Yapan Silver Award for Digital Films: Exile in Paris by Ahmet Zirek First Time by Krishnan Seshardi Gomatam FIPRESCI Prize: Mona Achache for Le hérisson

External links Official Cairo International Festival Site (in English) Cairo International Film Festival:2009 at IMDb