In March 2018, Hefzy became the youngest president in the history of the Cairo International Film Festival and in the years since has overseen its transformation into a linchpin Arab festival in the region. The oldest and only internationally accredited annually running film festival in the Arab world, Africa and the Middle East, CIFF also boasts a thriving industry deal-making, co-production and knowledge-sharing forum that has hatched and supported an impressive array of leading Arab film projects these past few years. The 43rd edition took place in December and was another big success, hosting 20 world premieres at the Cairo Opera House, despite operating under strict COVID precautionary measures.