(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) - CAIRO - Italian directors are at the Cairo Film Festival. Marco Bellocchio, who received the Career Award during the opening ceremony, and Giuseppe Piccioni, who has been invited as a member of the jury. Both walked down the red carpet at the Theatre dell'Opera along with Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson and Lucy Lu. Bellocchio's latest film, 'Vincere' was rejected by the distributor after its appearance at the Damascus Festival a few days ago (which awarded actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno), while Piccioni's 'Giulia non esce la sera' will not be screened, said the director and jury member for the international competition, as it has already appeared in other festivals, from Toronto to Korea. The Cairo Film festival is struggling to keep pace with fierce competition in the Middle East. I am sorry that Vincere is not here Bellocchio told ANSAmed at the gala dinner, in the magnificent gardens of the Palace of Mohamed Ali. The film tells the story of a private side to the Italian dictatorship , he observed, perhaps finding a relevance with regard to other regimes of today. But if the films absence is not the fault of the festival, the blunder by the organisers during the Award for Bellocchios career certainly was. When he saw that the trailer was not for one of his films, but for Elio Petris 'Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto', I thought this was a homage to a great colleague, who won an Oscar for that film, but it was a mistake. With all due respect, this is sloppiness which would not be seen elsewhere, he said. On the Cairo programme are Bellocchios 'La Balia' and 'L'Ora di religione'. Two films directed by Pupi Avati are being shown, 'Gli amici del bar Margherita' which Neri Marcore will attend, and ''Il papa' di Giovanna''. Other films from Italy thanks to Isabella Gullos presence , are 'L'ultimo Pulcinella' by Maurizio Scaparro, with Massimo Ranieri. Italian actress Imma Piro will sit on the jury for the digital section. On the Egyptian film front, 'Al Mosafer' (The Voyager) by Ahmed Maher is eagerly awaited, with Omar Sharif. The film was in competition at the last Venice Film Festival. The Festival also pays homage to Bollywood and Algeria. But the show which began yesterday with Culture Minister Farouk Hosni hosting, is looked on with some scepticism by the press. Today the Daily News Egypt, a supplement to the International Herald Tribune, runs a lengthy article entitled No great expectations, remarking on the complete absence of high profile films from the last year, including films which premiered in Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto. The author of the article also remarks on the lack of Iranian films, and wonders whether this is a political move to show worsening relations between Cairo and Tehran. The article ends by saying that aside from the organisational problems, several talents waiting to be discovered and supported will undoubtedly be found there. (ANSAmed).