Egyptians hope to star in US film festival

The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), the largest youth film festival in the world, will be held between 26 and 29 April in Seattle, Washington. Festival organisers have received nearly 700 entries by filmmakers aged 22-years-old and under. Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Lebanon, Malaysia, India, Singapore, and South Korea are among the 22 countries represented so far. Organisers expect to announce around 200 chosen films from categories, including narrative, documentary, animation, music video, experimental, and action sports, by the end of March. "The filmmakers who submitted this year represent a cross-section of backgrounds and ages, with the youngest filmmaker being seven-years-old," states NFFTY. “What amazes me every year is how closely connected and similar the youth of the world really are. Despite cultural and geographic differences, we see similarities in the stories these young filmmakers tell,” comments NFFTY Artistic Director, Jesse Harris. NFFTY also points to an increased number of female directors, who represent 30 per cent of submissions. “In Hollywood, female directors account for less than 10 percent, at NFFTY we see 30 percent and more every year. Hopefully NFFTY is helping to set a trend that will soon spread throughout Hollywood,” said Harris. In addition to the festival, NFFTY plans to host the first ever Future of Film Expo, an event that will include exclusive panels on the newest trends in film technology, music in the film industry, navigating the film school system and more from industry experts.