Khairy Beshara

Beshara completed his high school in Cairo then joined the Egyptian Higher Institute of Cinema where he graduated in 1967. He then went to Warsaw, Poland on a fellowship for two years where he met his future wife, Monika Kowalczyk. He started his career with a focus on documentaries then moved to feature narratives and directed 12 long features that were screened at various international film festivals. He is one of the first Egyptian and Arab directors to venture into digital film making in the late 1990s.

Tanks Hunter 1974 Leipzig 17th International Festival for Short &Documentary Films for Cinema and Television, Official Entry 1975 Sixth National Festival for Documentary and Short Films, Cairo, Egypt Best Idea – Khairy Beshara Best Photography – Mahmoud Abdel Samei

1976 The Catholic Audio-Visual Center Award Best Documentary “for its noble message of devoting one’s experience to those who need it.. setting an example for a young doctor working in rural areas”

1976 The Egyptian Association of Cinema Critics (FIRPRESCI member) Best Documentary “for its unique treatment in dealing with the Egyptian village and its problems…with awareness and a cinematographic view quite unusual for the Egyptian documentaries”

1976 Leipzig 19th International Film Festival The International Students Union Festival Award

1977 The Egyptian Association of Cinema Critics (FIRPRESCI member) Best Documentary concurrently with “Advises of a Wise Man on Rural Affairs & Education” by Daoud Abdel Sayed

1978 The Encouragement State Award, The High Council of Arts, Literature Award of Sciences & Arts of the First Degree

Illumination 1978 The 9th National Festival for Documentary and Short Films, Cairo, Egypt (Long Documentary Category) Best Direction – Khairy Beshara Best Photography – M. Fadel

Rock Talks 1979 The 10th National Festival for Documentary and Short Films, Cairo, Egypt Best Editing – Ahmed Metwally

1979 Leipzig 22nd International Festival for Short & Documentary Films for Cinema and Television, Official Entry

1980 Sixth Festival of Egyptian Film Film Society Award for the Best Short Film

1980 The Egyptian Association of Cinema Critics (FIRPRESCI member) Best Documentary concurrently with “Working in the Field” by Daoud Abdel Sayed “for its distinguished creative capacity in expressing the character of the Egyptian Sculptor Abdel Badie Abdel Hay”

1980 The Folk Culture Department Certificate of Appreciation – K. Beshara “In appreciation of his distinguished efforts and his excellence in the fields of scenario and direction…”

1982 The Egyptian Association of Cinema Critics (FIRPRESCI member) Best Feature Film “because he was able to express the problems of the 70’s generation in a new innovative way which reflects maturity of the new Egyptian Cinema”

1982 First Cairo International Film Festival (Panorama of Egyptian Films) First Prize for the Producer

1982 The 35th International Film Festival Cannes (Film Market)

1982 The 18th International Festival for Young Cinematographers, Hyeres, France, Official Entry

1982 First Film Festival for Mediterranean Cultures, Bastia, France, Official Entry

1982 Valencia III International Film Festival for Mediterranean Cultures, Spain, Official Entry

Bloody Destinies 1983 Cinema Prizes Competition, Ministry of Culture, Cairo, Egypt Best Debut Direction – K. Beshara

1983 Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Netherlands (Main Program) It was the First Egyptian film ever to be screened at the Rotterdam festival

1983 Cinema Prizes Competition, Ministry of Culture, Cairo, Egypt Best Music – Gehad Daoud Best Supporting Actress – Magda El Khattib

1983 The 9th festival of the Egyptian Film Society The Special Jury Award for Direction – K. Beshara Best Photography – M. Abdel Samei Certificate to the Producer – M. Mostafa

1985 Screened in several Yugoslavian cities on the occasion of cultural events

1986 Valencia 7th International Film Festival for Mediterranean Cultures, Spain Bronze Award

1986 The 11th Cinematographic Days of Carthage, Tunis (Official Entry)

1986 The Three Continents Film Festival, Nantes, France (Official Entry)

1987 Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Netherlands (Main Program)

1987 Strasbourg 15th Film Festival, France International Institute of Human Rights within the program “Carte Blanche” of the Egyptian Young Cinema proposed by Mohamed Khan (Film Director)

1987 The 5th Arab Film Festival, Paris, France (Main Program)

1987 The 13th Festival of the Egyptian Film society Best Film – El Alamia for Cinema & TV production, Hussein El Kalla Best Direction – K. Beshara Best Photography – Tarek El Telmessany Best Editing – Adel Mounir Best Music – Entessar Abdel Fattah Best Actress - Sherihan

1987 The Egyptian Association of Cinema Critics (FIRPRESCI member) Best Egyptian Feature Film of 1986

1987 The 4th Academic Week for Graduates of the Higher Institute of Cinema, Aswan, Egypt, Best Direction Award

1987 The 11th São Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil

1987 Hollywood on the Nile – The Realists and their films – Egyptian Film in Metropolis Cinema, Hamburg, West Germany

1987 Mediterranean Cinema Festival, Montpellier, France

1988 The Three Continents Film Festival, Nantes, France Special Mention

1988 “Cinema & Reality of the 80’s in Egypt”, M.A. Thesis by Viola Shafik, Hamburg University, Germany

1989 “The Collar & the Bracelet” Between the Film and Yehia El Taher Abdallah's Novel and the Film's Position in Egyptian Cinema, M.A. Thesis by Beaty Klimkiewicz, Warsaw University, Neofilology Department, Poland

1989 The 15th Festival of the Egyptian Film Society Best Actress – Faten Hamama Best Set Designer – Onsi Abou Seif Special Mention – Ahmed Hussein (12-year-old boy with major role in the film)

1989 The Egyptian Film Society Survey Best Film of the year 1988

1989 The Cinema Pharaohs Magazine Survey, Alexandria, Egypt Best Film of the year 1988

1989 The 12th Cairo Film Festival The Advertising Prize

1989 Film Fest Munchen, West Germany (International Program)

1989 The 18th International Festival of Cinema, Figueira da Foz, Portugal

1989 The 3rd International Film Festival, Rabat, Morocco Special Jury Prize

1989 The 10th Mostra De Valencia, Spain (Information Section)

1989 Montreal World Film Festival, Canada, “Today’s Cinema, Tomorrow’s Cinema” Program

Crabs (Kaboria) 1991 Tage des un Abhangizen Films, Augsburg, Germany

1991 The Egyptian Association for Cinematographic Art Best Direction

1991 The First National Feature Film Festival, Cairo, Egypt Special Jury Award Best Actress – Raghda Best Photography – Mohsen Ahmed

Wild Desire 1991 Montreal World Film Festival, Canada, “Today’s Cinema, Tomorrow’s Cinema” Program

1993 Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, Pesaro, Italy

Ice Cream in Gleem 1993 The 19th Festival of the Egyptian Film Society Special Jury Award

1994 The 4th Pyongyang Film Festival, Korea The Special Prize of the Juries

Traffic Light 1995 The 19th Cairo International Film Festival Special Jury Prize “Silver Pyramid”

1996 The Centennial of Arab Cinema, Lincoln Center, New York, USA

1996 The 6th Edition of Black Movie, Genève, Switzerland

1996 “Mass Culture & Modernism in Egypt” a book by Walter Armbrust, Cambridge University Press.

1997 The International House of Philadelphia, USA, Contemporary Egyptian Cinema

1997 II Cinema Dei Paesi Arabi, Cinema Del Comune Di Bologna, Italy