Farouk Falawkas gets the Cairo Film Festival's Golden Pyramid for lifetime achievement

Farouk Falawkas, one of the most familiar faces of Egyptian stage, film and television for more than sixty years, will receive the Cairo International Film Festival's Golden Pyramid Award for Lifetime Achievement. The festival, headed by Hussein Fahmy, announced that the award will be presented at the opening ceremony of its 47th edition, which runs from 11 to 20 November 2026, FilFan reported on 8 November.

The honour comes in a year that matters to the festival itself: this edition marks 50 years since it was founded in 1976, and the programme looks back at the people who shaped Egyptian cinema in that time. Falawkas's career is older than the festival itself.

Born Farouk Tawfik Saleh in Abdeen, Cairo, he studied engineering at Cairo University, where the university's acting group turned an interest into a profession. He made his stage debut in the 1960s alongside Fouad El Mohandes, and his breakthrough came in 1969 as Salit in the stage hit Sayyidati al-Jamila. More plays followed, among them Zuqaq al-Midaq, Khail al-Hukuma and El Wad Sayed El Shaghal.

His first film was Cairo at Night in 1963. Over the next four decades he worked through some of the best-known titles of Egyptian cinema: Darbet Shams with Nour El-Sherif in 1980, Darb El Hawa in 1983, Qadiyet Am Ahmed in 1985, El Raqesa wel Seyasy in 1990, where he played Shafik Tartar, El Lie Ra'aso 'al Sellem in 1994 and Sayeh Bahr in 2004. On television, generations know him from Layali El Helmiya, Raafat El Haggan, El Zeiny Barakat, Hawanem Garden City and Aelet El Hag Metwally.

For festival-goers, the opening night is on 11 November and is the start of ten days of screenings across the city. Programme details and ticket sales are announced on the festival's own channels, so check there for the schedule of screenings and how to book.