A fund to support and develop cinema in Egypt will be launched soon, Culture Minister Helmy el Namnam told the inaugural event of a festival held in Cairo on Wednesday.

Procedures are being finalized now and then a decision will be issued by the prime minister to establish the fund which will have an initial capital of EGP150 million, the minister said during the opening ceremony of the 20th session of the Egyptian National Cinema Festival at Cairo Opera House.

The inaugural event witnessed an intensive presence of arts, cinema, literature, culture and media figures.

This year's session of the festival has 20 films compared to 14 last year, the minister noted as a sign of progress for the festival.

He also underlined that nine movies are the first for youth directors.

"Cinema is, like other industries, a youth industry that mainly depends on young people," said the minister.

Cinema is "Egypt's soft power," asserted director Samir Seif, the festival's chairman.

"The state has realized this now and pumped blood into this important industry," he told the event.

He appealed to all artists to "maintain this dream by more creation or it will die and turn into a nightmare"

The festival's 20th session, to run till October 20, is dedicated to late director Mohamed Khan.