The Cairo International Film Festival announced that it will honor the renowned cinematographer Mahmoud Abdel Samiee with the Golden Pyramid Lifetime Achievement Award at its 46th edition, scheduled from November 12 to 21, 2025. This recognition celebrates his significant contributions to cinematography through dozens of documentary and narrative films that enriched Egyptian cinema.

The announcement was made during the festival’s press conference held on Sunday afternoon, attended by star Mahmoud Hemida, producer Mohamed El Adl, screenwriter Abdel Rahim Kamal, actresses Laila Eloui, Loubna, Basma, actor Ahmed Magdy, producer Hesham Suleiman, journalists Riham Ibrahim, critic Tarek El Shenawy, and journalist Jasmine Taha Zaki.

Mahmoud Abdel Samiee

He is one of the most prominent names in cinematography since the late 1960s, especially through his work in documentary filmmaking. He currently chairs the Film Society as well as its annual festival. He earned a bachelor’s degree in photography and cinematography from the Faculty of Applied Arts in 1966 and worked as a director of photography, documentary supervisor, and executive producer at the National Cinema Center.

He has taught cinematography and film professions since the 1960s and has shot over 200 documentary films since 1966. He is considered the first cinematographer to enter the battlefield during the War of Attrition (July 1969) and during the ceasefire until the victories of the October War. He also collaborated with most Egyptian documentary filmmakers from the pioneer generation and subsequent generations, as well as some Arab and foreign directors.

Alongside his work as a director of photography with the New Realism generation, he contributed to films such as Al-Awama 70, Al-Zammar, For Love, A Last Story, Al-Sa’alik, and others. Abdel Samiee also participated in many film projects outside Egypt (Germany, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia) and traveled to Iraq in 1998, where he took part in the “Filmmakers Without Borders” campaign.

Cairo International Film Festival

It is one of the oldest festivals in the Arab world and Africa, and the only one in the region accredited with the “A” category by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in Paris. The festival was founded in 1976 and is held annually under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.