by Ahmed Shafiq
HURGHADA, Egypt, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Renowned Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi praised the Chinese film industry, stressing that it is "sophisticated" and based on a "very distinctive" culture.
"Chinese film industry is very sophisticated that is built on a very unique culture, and has very special characteristics," Masharawi said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently.
The director said that he learned lessons from every Chinese film he watched, adding that his generation grew up along watching Chinese movies.
"Chinese films have been a key element in our cultural and cinematic composition," he noted.
The Palestinian filmmaker is participating in the third edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF), which kicked off on Sept. 19 in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of El Gouna, hosting hundreds of film celebrities and filmmakers.
It will screen over 80 movies from various countries, including China.
During the festival, 12 films are participating in the Feature Narrative Competition, nine in the Feature Documentary Competition, 23 in the Short Film Competition, as well as three in GFF's Special Presentations program.
The festival will also screen 21 films in its Out of Competition section, while the awards of the competitions will amount to 224,000 U.S. dollars.
Meanwhile, Masharawi highlighted the importance of the GFF as it combines the cinematic works of many Arab and foreign countries, pointing out that many of these films participated in international festivals and won major awards.
"Holding the festival in the breathtaking tourist resort of El Gouna helps the GFF become a major international film festival," he said.
Masharawi added that film festivals usually require great material and financial capabilities, affirming the GFF has a huge potential as organizers have received more than 500 guests from all over the world.
"The financial support and the location are the most important elements of the success of the GFF," he said.
"Last year, I was a member of the festival's jury, and this year, I carry out projects in the development of film projects and co-production with producers who are present in the festival," the director revealed.
Masharawi noted that film festivals in general, including the GFF, play an important role, not only in bringing films and screening them, but also in contributing strongly to the development of the film industry.
He explained that during film festivals, film projects are presented and a jury selects the best new directors and projects in the stages of development, production or post-production.
Participants in these projects develop themselves by benefiting from the ideas and visions of other colleagues.
"They learn about new patterns that qualify them to develop themselves, which will definitely help develop film industry in general," the Palestinian filmmaker said.
As a producer and filmmaker, Masharawi said that the GFF is a very favorable opportunity for him to increase and strengthen relations with many institutions and film pioneers.
"We are all in one place ... it is always difficult for a person to visit all these countries to meet these people," he added.
Masharawi, born in Gaza in 1962 to a refugee family from Jaffa, founded the Cinema Production and Distribution Center in 1996 with the aim of promoting local film productions.
He has won many international awards and participated in many Arab and international film festivals as a member of head of the jury.
