At the opening ceremony held yesterday afternoon at Cairo Opera House, a number of international and regional movie stars, including British actress Julia Ormond, attended the red carpet ceremony.

In a welcome message posted on the official website of the festival, Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said "once again Cairo is ready to celebrate the fine art of cinema" during the film festival, the oldest one in the Middle East.

"We extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to them and to all festivals, hoping that the exchange of ideas and concepts will be beneficial to all," said Hosni.

According to the organizing committee, 46 films out of some 150 movies from 59 countries and regions, including 22 movies from nine Arab states, will take part in the competition of the event.

Some 22 Spanish movies will be screened during the festival with Spain being the special guest of honor.

The competition was classified into three units: international competition for long feature films, international digital competition and Arab film competition.

A series of symposiums on film industry, regional and international cooperation will be held during the 11-day event, which will last till November 28.