Cairo International Film Festival 2019: Tunisia’s ‘A Son’ wins big at closing ceremony

Numerous awards were dished out as the festival drew to a close, with Palestine's Najwa Najjar also getting a nod

Egyptian actress Amina Khalil arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Egyptian actress Arwa Gouda arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Lebanese actress Mariam Hassan arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Egyptian actress Iman El Assi arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Egyptian actor Ahmed Fahmy arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Egyptian actress Mai Omar arrives at the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Director Nada Riyadh receives an award during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Reuters

Actress Nathalie Emmanuel attends the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Reuters

Egyptian actress Laila Elwi speaks during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Reuters

Festival director Mohamed Hefzy speaks during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Reuters

Chinese directors Zhang Chong and Zhang Bo receive the Bronze Pyramid for 'The Fourth Wall' during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. AFP

Tunisian director Mehdi Barsaoui receives the award for Best Arabic Film for 'A Son' during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. AFP

Egyptian producer Marianne Khoury receives the Audience Award from Nathalie Emmanuel during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. AFP

Filipino director Brillante Mendoza receives the Best Artistic Contribution award during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. Reuters

Palestinian director Najwa Najjar won Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Iraqi director Mohanad Hayal receives Best Arab Director for 'Haifa Street' during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

Italian director of photography Vittorio Storaro receives an award during the closing ceremony of the 41st Cairo International Film Festival. EPA

A moving Mexican drama about immigration has walked away with the Golden Pyramid at this year's Cairo International Film Festival, with several Arab filmmakers also scoring awards at the festival's closing ceremony.

The cinematic celebration handed out gongs last night at Cairo's Opera House, with stars such as Amina Khalil, Mai Omar and Games of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel in attendance.

Fernando Frias's I'm No Longer Here, which focuses on a teen Mexican immigrant struggling to adjust to life in the US, took home the top prize, as well as netting lead actor Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino a gong for his performance.

The Silver Pyramid went to Belgian Bas Devos's Ghost Tropic, a minimalist arthouse film that follows one woman walking through Brussels after missing her stop on the subway.

The Bronze Pyramid, meanwhile, jointly went to Zhang Chong and Zhang Bo for complex sci-fi feature The Fourth Wall, and Czech director Michal Hogenauer for thriller A Certain Kind of Silence.

Scroll through the gallery above to see what happened at the Cairo International Film Festival 2019 closing ceremony.

The 41st iteration of the festival, which kicked off on Wednesday, November 20 and closed on Friday, November 29, also honoured Tunisian director Mehdi M Barsaoui with the Arab competition prize for A Son.

The much-anticipated debut feature film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year, focuses on a couple thrown into a complex situation after their son is shot and critically wounded, and also took home Cairo's Special Jury Award.

Iraqi director Mohanad Hayal's Haifa Street, set during the civil war in Baghdad in 2006, took home the gong for Best Arab Director, while Palestinian director Najwa Najjar scored the Best Screenplay Award for divorce drama Between Heaven and Earth.

Filipino star Judy Ann Santos was honoured with the Best Actress prize for her work on Filipino director Brillante Mendoza's Mindanao, a stirring drama focused on a mother taking care of her dying child while her husband, an army medic, is posted in an isolated location.

Elie Kamal's debut feature documentary Beirut Terminus, which examines the history of the now-defunct railway system in Lebanon, took home Best Nonfiction Film after premiering in Cairo last week.