Luxor African Film Festival

African cinema, in Luxor

The festival grew out of an observation by its founders, screenwriter Sayed Fouad, who chairs it, and director Azza Elhosseiny, who runs it: African films were rarely screened in Egypt, and Luxor, a city of temples and tourism, hosted few cultural events. They chose to set the festival far from Cairo and Alexandria, where such events usually take place.

The festival is organised by the Independent Shabab Foundation, an Egyptian non-profit foundation, with Luxor Governorate and the support of several ministries, including Culture and Tourism and Antiquities.

What you see there

The programme is built around several competitions, which say a lot about the festival's spirit:

• features, fiction, documentary or animation over 60 minutes, for African directors;
• shorts, on the same basis;
• diaspora, for films about Africa by African directors living outside the continent;
• Upper Egypt, open to directors from Luxor and Qena governorates, with a jury that includes members from both provinces.

There is also a screenwriting competition named after Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed and, a few months before the festival, a "zero-budget" short film workshop for young people from Luxor and Qena.

The 2027 edition

The 16th edition runs from 28 March to 3 April 2027, with Egyptian actor Mahmoud Hemida as honorary president. It puts East African cinema in the spotlight and pays tribute to Egyptian composer Hany Shenouda, Cameroonian filmmaker Bassek Ba Kobhio and Moroccan composer Abdelwahab Doukkali. Competition films must date from 2026 and must not have been shown in Egypt before: these are recent works, in their Egyptian premiere.

The 2026 edition was devoted to the centenary of Youssef Chahine's birth, with screenings of four of his restored films.

Luxor at the end of March

The dates fall at the end of the high season. According to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) normals for Luxor, the average maximum is about 30 °C in March and 35 °C in April: sightseeing is for the early morning, and evening screenings come at just the right time. Another practical point: from late March to late April, Europe is already on summer time and Egypt is not yet, so the time difference with Luxor is one hour smaller.

The festival fits easily into a stay in Luxor: temples in the morning, cinema in the evening. Sabaro recommends three full days for the two banks, plus a fourth if you want to attend several screenings.

Where to stay. On the east bank, closest to town, the Hilton Luxor, to the north, or the Jolie Ville, on its Nile island, with a shuttle to the centre. On the quieter west bank, Al Moudira, a boutique house near the necropolises. During the festival, Sabaro recommends booking as soon as your travel dates are set.