The Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) will honour Egyptian actress Mona Zaki, one of the biggest stars in Egypt, with the Faten Hamama Excellence Award at the festival's opening ceremony in December this year. “Mona Zaki is the quintessential star of her generation," said festival president Mohamed Hefzy in a statement. “With her daring and intelligent career choices, she has been able to achieve the difficult balance of both critical and commercial success. She always knows when to say no, and therefore she retains her glamour and stardom in addition to the respect and appreciation of the public even if she is absent for some time.” Her latest roles were in 2016 with the television series <em>Afra Al Qobba</em> and Amr Arafa's film <em>30 Years Ago</em>. Zaki, who started her acting career as a teenager, made her debut on stage in the play <em>Bel Araby Al Faseeh</em> directed by Mohamed Sobhi. She went on to play significant roles in both film and television, including the lead role in Yousry Nasrallah's <em>Scheherazade Tell Me a Story</em>, which was selected at the Venice Film Festival in 2009. Previous recipients of the award, which is named after legendary Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, include Menna Shalaby and Mohamed Khan. This year, Ciff will take place from December 2 to 10. Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/cairo-international-film-festival-delayed-until-december-1.1089928">the festival announced it has pushed its dates</a> by two weeks in November to ensure safety measures are in place in light of Covid-19.
