Factory Girl by the Egyptian director Mohamed Khan opened the MedFilm Festival in Rome on Friday in the director's presence.
The film – about a young woman in a textile factory (Yasmeen El-Raees) who falls in love with her manager – is one of several from Egypt to be screened at the festival, which runs from 4 to 11 July.
The others include the 2013 documentary Cairo Drive by Sherif El-Katsha and the short film The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375 by Omar El Zohairy.
The festival, currently in its 20th year, is "the only festival in Italy dedicated to promoting the circulation of European and Mediterranean Cinema", say the organisers, and includes 83 feature films, short films and documentaries, including 50 national premieres.