8/23/2023
EMPC and the UNESCO office in Cairo intend to organize an international celebration on the occasion of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, which takes place on the 27th October of each year. A dialogue workshop will be held on this day, in which foreign experts in preserving audiovisual heritage will participate, and review the efforts of Egypt in general and EMPC in particular in this field. In this context, both parties discussed the preparations for launching a joint annual award for the most important projects to save the audiovisual heritage in Egypt.
This came during the reception of Mr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Jibali, EMPC Chairman of the Board, Dr. Nuria Sanz, Regional Director of the UNESCO Office in Cairo, and Dr. Ayman Abdel-Mohsen, Director of Cultural Projects at the UNESCO Office.
Dr. Hani Abu Al-Hassan, Chairman Advisor for International Cooperation, attended the meeting in order to discuss aspects of cooperation between the UNESCO and EMPC in many cultural fields. The delegation inspected EMPC efforts in preserving the audiovisual heritage via the Heritage Restoration Center at EMPC, which participated in saving hundreds of documentaries and feature movies, on top of which is the Egyptian Cinema Newspaper, and many feature films, and preserving them for future generations.
In this context, Al-Jibali emphasized Egypt great interest in Africa, as it is the natural extension of the Egyptian heritage and culture, pointing to the importance of holding introductory courses for Africans in Egypt to see all the efforts exerted to protect the audiovisual heritage. This is what the Director of the UNESCO Office in Cairo has mentioned; pointing to the organization's great interest in Africa and its great cultural heritage.
The meeting also discussed holding a day to introduce to the IAEMS students the UNESCO projects, in addition to helping them to produce short movies documenting its projects in preserving the heritage.
Al-Jibali emphasized the importance of the visit in strengthening the bonds of friendship and opening new horizons for cooperation between EMPC and the UNESCO, expressing EMPC's full readiness to provide all the required facilities and amenities to cater for the events and cultural activities of the UNESCO office in Cairo.
For her part, Mrs. Nuria Sanz praised the efforts made by EMPC in the cultural field, and its great achievements in this regard, especially its efforts to save the audiovisual heritage. She also expressed her aspiration for mutual cooperation and exchange of experiences between both parties in order to benefit from EMPC technical capabilities, scientific centers and top notch human expertise.
The UNESCO delegation had an inspection tour around EMPC, which included the Cinema Restoration Center that preserves the audiovisual and documentary heritage, and protects it from damage and obsolescence. And finally, they had a detailed presentation about the center from its supervisors.
The delegation also had a tour around EMPC backlots namely, London,
Istanbul and Alexandria areas, and watched the processes of finishing the
filming sites’ décor in preparation for shooting many productions and series in
the coming period.
