The Aswan International Film Festival for Women’s Films will kick off tomorrow (Thursday), in its fifth session, which bears the name “The Nile Cycle” and will continue until June 29, in the presence of the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, the President of the National Council for Women, Dr. Maya Morsi, and the head of the European Union delegation to Egypt. Ambassador Christian Berger, the head of the Tourism Promotion Authority, Eng. Ahmed Youssef, and a large crowd of stars and filmmakers in Egypt and the Arab world.
The opening ceremony will be held at nine in the evening in a theater on the banks of the Nile in one of the major hotels in Aswan Governorate, far south of Cairo, amid great precautionary measures, and it will be presented by the presenter, Aya Al-Ghariani, who presented the royal mummies party, and it will be broadcast live.
The opening ceremony includes honoring the President of the National Center for Women, Dr. Maya Morsi, and awarding her the Nott Award for Achievement in the Field of Women's Issues, honoring the first female university president in the Arab world with the Leadership Award, Kuwaiti Dr. The Egyptian Sandra Nashat, the Palestinian Najwa Najjar, and the expert in cinematic archives, Mona Al-Bandary. While the festival management decided to dedicate this session to the names of the Tunisian director Moufida Al-Tlatli, and the writer Kawthar Heikal, in appreciation of their distinguished gifts and artistic creativity throughout their journey.
Dalia Baeshen and Ola Al-Sheikh participate in the report "The Image of Women in Arab Cinema"
The festival is witnessing the launch of the report “The Image of Women in Arab Cinema”, which was co-prepared by the Saudi critic, writer and producer Dalia Baeshen, and the writer for the “Okaz” newspaper, film critic Ola Al-Sheikh, as the first research content that monitors women’s conditions in general in cinematic films that concern women in the Arab region. It also evaluates women's experience as a major theme in these works of fiction.
The report's editor-in-chief, writer and critic Intisar Dardir, considered that the participation of 14 senior Arab critics reflects the aspirations of women and the reality of their role in their society. (Iraq), Abdel Sattar Naji (Kuwait), Lama Tayara (Syria), Rania Haddad (Jordan), Khaled Ali (Sudan), Abdel Razak Al Zaher (Morocco), Nabil Hajji (Algeria), Najwa Kondakji (Lebanon), Ensaf Ouhiba (Tunisia) ), Azza Al-Qasabi (Sultanate of Oman), and Nour Sreib (Yemen).
3 Saudi works within the competition for the 100 best Arab films for women
In a related context, the festival management revealed that the events will witness the announcement of the result of the referendum to select the 100 best Arab films for women, with the participation of a large number of Arab critics from the ocean to the Gulf, while the list includes 1421 Arab feature films, including 3 films from Saudi Arabia and a number of films from Egypt and Syria. Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine and Jordan.
12 films from 16 countries in the Feature Film Competition
The festival management announced the list of films participating in the feature film competition, as its artistic director Andrew Mohsen said: 12 films from 16 countries are competing for the awards of this year’s session, including 4 documentaries, an animation film, and two Egyptian films in their world premiere, “From and to Mir.” and "Forgotten Dreams". In addition to participating in the Japanese feature film “Aristocrats”.
Mohsen continued: Costa Rica will participate in the feature film “Twilight” (Aurora) in its premiere in Africa and the Middle East, after its participation in the Rotterdam Festival, and from Ukraine the feature film “Bad Roads” written and directed by Natalia Vorazbit, in its Middle Eastern premiere as well. after participating in the Venice Film Festival. The Belgian-French-Moroccan joint film “A Way Home” is also competing, in addition to the humanitarian documentary “Heaven Beneath My Feet”, which is a joint production between Lebanon, France and Jordan. From Chile, the feature film “La Veronica” will be shown. The feature film “Last Days of Spring”, a joint production between the Netherlands and Spain, will also compete in the competition. The animated film “My Favorite War” is produced by Latvia and Norway, while the feature film “Submission” will be shown from Portugal, and the feature film “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet” from Argentina. , in its first show in Africa and the Middle East, after its participation in the Rotterdam and Sundance festivals at the beginning of this year.
Donia Samir Ghanem was absent from the honor
For her part, the Egyptian artist, Donia Samir Ghanem, finally apologized to the festival management for not attending her honor party or participating in the events, stressing her inability to leave her mother, artist Dalal Abdel Aziz, in this critical health condition.
Okaz learned that the festival management decided to compensate for the absence of Donia Samir Ghanem by honoring the famous French actress Masha Merrill, with a proposal to transfer honoring director Sandra Nashat and Palestinian director and writer Najwa Najjar from the closing ceremony to the opening ceremony.
The festival management had previously issued an official statement confirming the honoring of Donia Samir Ghanem, as a model representing women's creativity in the present and future of Egyptian cinema, as well as being one of the most important stars of her generation who performed distinguished works that were praised by the public and critics.
The festival's head, scriptwriter Mohamed Abdel-Khaleq, said: "Donia Samir Ghanem is one of the most important talents in Egyptian cinema, and in a few years she succeeded in presenting important works that won the admiration of the audience."
Okaz (Cairo) @okaz_online