I Play Rocky, Peter Farrelly's Stallone film, opens the Cairo Film Festival
The 47th Cairo International Film Festival, running 11 to 20 November, will open with Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky, the story of how a young Sylvester Stallone got Rocky made.
The Cairo International Film Festival has picked its opening film for its 47th edition: I Play Rocky, directed by Peter Farrelly, the Oscar-winning director of Green Book. The festival runs from 11 to 20 November, and the film plays out of competition as part of the official selection.
I Play Rocky goes back to the mid-1970s. Anthony Ippolito plays a young Sylvester Stallone, an unknown actor struggling to get work in Hollywood who writes the screenplay for Rocky. Producers want the script, but they want an established star in the lead. Stallone refuses to sell it unless he plays the boxer himself. The film follows how he held on to that role.
The choice carries a date that matters to Cairo. The festival was founded in 1976, the same year Rocky reached cinemas, so this edition marks its 50th anniversary. In announcing the film, the festival said the opening night brings together two histories: a young actor's determination and the festival's own journey since 1976. It also said the film turns the spotlight on the filmmaking process itself.
The film arrives with a strong run behind it. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award, and it won audience awards in Vancouver and at Cinefest Sudbury. It has also screened at festivals in London, Rome, Zurich and Chicago and at AFI Fest in Los Angeles. In the United States, Amazon MGM Studios opens it in a limited release on 6 November before a wider release on 20 November.
This year's festival, presided over by actor Hussein Fahmy, has already announced a programme of 145 films from 64 countries, and lifetime achievement honours for screenwriter Medhat El Adl, cinematographer Saeed Shimi and Italian director Matteo Garrone, with the Faten Hamama award going to Asser Yassin.
The festival has not yet announced the date, venue or ticket details for the opening screening, and no date has been set for I Play Rocky in Egyptian cinemas. Most of the festival's screenings take place at the Cairo Opera House grounds and partner cinemas, and tickets usually go on sale through the festival shortly before it starts, so keep an eye on the festival's website and its Instagram page, cairofilms, in the first days of November.