Egypt film festival pays tribute to strength of Palestinian women

Organisers and guests at the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival (AIWFF) have used their platform to pay tribute and show solidarity and support for Palestine and the Palestinian people especially in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The eighth edition of AIWFF opened on Saturday night in Egypt’s city of Aswan, is organised in cooperation with the European Union. In her opening remarks, Chair of the Festival’s Board of Trustees, Mervat Al-Talawi, said the organisers had considered cancelling this year’s event out of respect for the Palestinian people, but decided instead to use this platform as a cry to revive the importance of peace in the world and in the region.

Maya Morsi, president of the National Council for Women, said the festival highlights the most important issues and challenges facing women, adding that “art is the soft force that calls for stopping the [Israeli] aggression and preventing the forced displacement of the people of Gaza.”

She said she hoped that “Palestine will enjoy the right to self-determination, and that a Palestinian state will be established.”

Minister of Social Solidarity in Egypt, Nevine El-Kabbaj, paid tribute to the steadfastness shown by the Palestinian women.

The event is set to celebrate Palestinian cinema by showing six Palestinian films that express the reality of Palestinian women, namely; ‘I am from Palestine’, ‘If They Take Him’, ‘A Cut-off Future’, ‘Narrative’, ‘Silk Threads’ and ‘An Attempt to Survive’.

Seventy-six films compete in this year’s festival.

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