US magazine “Variety” has announced its annual list of the 500 most influential personalities who make up the media and entertainment industry in the world. Among these figures were Egyptian producer and scriptwriter Mohamed Hefzy, president of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), and businessman Naguib Sawiris, founder of the El Gouna Film Festival.
The list is chosen by the magazine’s editorial board, which conducts extensive research of its choices, to reflect the achievements of the 500 personalities over the past 12 months.
The list includes a number of prominent figures in the entertainment industry around the world, most notably Robert Eiger, CEO of Walt Disney Company, and famous media figure Opera Winfrey, two international directors Martin Scorsese, Stephen Spielberg, and Ted Sarandos, senior content officer in the Netflix network. It also includes from the Arab world a number of personalities namely Turki Al-Shabana, Minister of Information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Gianluca Chakra Front, CEO of Front Company, Maryam Eid Al-Muhairi, CEO of the Media Zone Authority and “twofour54” company, and Fatima Hassan Al-Rumaihi, Executive Director of the Doha Film Institute.
Variety highlighted the selection of Mohamed Hefzy as the youngest president of the Cairo International Film Festival, and his role in reviving the festival after he had lost his lustre due to the political turmoil in Egypt during the years after 2011. He also indicated that he was chosen as a member of the jury of the Horizons competition at the Venice Film Festival. The Magazine also praised his production for a large number of films that won the praise of the critics and the admiration of the audience, including “Day of Judgment”, which participated in the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival two years ago.
Mohamed Hefzy voiced his delight and pride in being chosen in the list of the “Variety” annual magazine among 500 influential personalities in 2019, among the leading businessmen in the media and entertainment industries, along with 8 Arab personalities, including Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris.
TunisianMonitorOnline (Douha Essaafi)
