Paul Farrelly's 'I Play Rocky' To Open Cairo International Film Festival

A new film about the making of Rocky will open the Cairo International Film Festival this November. I Play Rocky stars Anthony Ippolito as a young Sylvester Stallone. It follows his fight to break into Hollywood and get his own script made, with himself in the lead role. The festival's 47th edition runs from November 11 to 20. Organisers say the choice fits because the festival is also marking 50 years since it was founded in 1976.

Rocky came out in 1976 and became a huge hit. Stallone wrote the script and pushed hard to play the main part when studios wanted a bigger star. The new film looks at that struggle. It already played at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award. It also won audience awards in Vancouver and at Cinéfest Sudbury. Cairo's festival began in 1976 and is Egypt's oldest.

It shows how one person's stubborn belief in an idea can change a career. It also gives Egyptian film fans a big international opener for the year.