First Arab Netflix production criticised in Egypt for ‘offending Egyptian society’

An Egyptian MP has filed a complaint about Netflix’s first Arabic-language feature film on the grounds that it “offends the mores of Egyptian society.”

Mostafa Bakry has called for a boycott of the streaming giant because of its depiction of one of the characters who is in a same sex relationship, and another who is having an extramarital affair.

In the film, seven friends sit together and agree to play a game in which everyone shares the content of the messages and phone calls they receive throughout the course of the dinner party.

Starring in Ashab wala A’azz, Perfect Strangers, is Mona Zaki, an Egyptian film star who has been criticised for being part of a film that “goes against Egyptian values and morals.”

The film, which is an Egyptian co-production and a remake of the Italian film Perfect Strangers, has also been accused of being part of a foreign plot championed by Zaki to disrupt Arab society by Egyptian lawyer Ayman Mahfouz.

READ: Egypt uses probation to extend ‘humiliating’ control over opponents

Mahfouz is filing a lawsuit to have the film removed from Netflix and has warned Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem that he will sue the culture ministry so that the film is removed.

Egypt has a history of persecuting its LGBTQ community as was the case with the famous activist Sara Hegazy who committed suicide in 2020. In 2017 Hegazy was arrested and tortured for allegedly joining an illegal group and promoting sexual deviancy and debauchery.

Two years ago, Egyptian authorities arrested a man who accompanied a witness to the Fairmont Hotel gang rape allegedly because of his sexual orientation.

Several female social media influencers have been arrested for “debauchery” and “offending public morals” as the government moves to use decency charges to crackdown on all sections of society including social media postings.

High-profile belly dancer Sama El-Masry, actress Rania Youssef and a group of TikTok influencers, who became known as the TikTok girls, have all been accused of various, similar charges, including promoting debauchery and prostitution on social media.