娱乐英语新闻:33rd Cairo int'l film festival kicks off

CAIRO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 33rd Cairo International Film Festival opened here on Tuesday with India being the guest of honor in this year's event.

    At the opening ceremony held Tuesday evening at Cairo Opera House, a number of international and regional movie stars from the United States, Canada, India, China, France, Italy, Spain and Arab and African countries attended the red carpet ceremony.

    In a welcome message posted on the official website of the festival, Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said "once again Cairo is ready to celebrate the fine art of cinema" during the film festival, the oldest one in the Middle East.

    "We extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to them and to all festivals, hoping that the exchange of ideas and concepts will be beneficial to all," said Hosni.

    According to the organizing committee, 42 films out of 150 movies from 67 countries and regions, including 11 movies from six Arab states, will take part in the competition sections of the event.

    Some 25 Indian movies will be screened during the festival with India being the special guest of honor. India is invited by the organizer for its film "Slumdog Millionaire" that won eight Oscar awards. It is also the producer of the opening film of the festival "New York."

    The competition was classified into three units: international competition for long feature films, international digital competition and Arab film competition.

    A series of symposiums on film industry, regional and international cooperation will be held during the 11-day event, which will last till Nov. 20.