AIWFF: Ibrahim Eissa will no longer chair the jury of the Egyptian Film Competition in the festival’s 6th edition

CAIRO – 23 February 2022: The administration of the 6th Aswan International Women Film Festival announced that the festival, since its inception, has gained significant popularity as it always sought the pulse of the street and the Egyptian public, especially the people of Aswan.

The management of the Aswan International Women Film Festival explained that the festival was created in the first place especially for the people of Aswan.

Moreover, the festival’s management further announced that it had followed this approach since its inception, which stems from the awareness, values and traditions of the Aswan people in particular, and the Egyptian people in general.

The festival’s management stressed that in this context, it will not allow any action that would distort the deep relationship formed between the festival and the people of Egypt throughout the years.

Upon the aforementioned, the management of the Aswan International Women Film Festival announced that controversial Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Eissa will not be chairing the jury of the Egyptian Film Competition at the festival’s 6th edition as was initially decided.

This was decided by the festival's management after the controversial T.V. anchor, writer and journalist Ibrahim Eissa became under urgent interrogation for accusations of blasphemous comments against the Islamic faith. 

Eissa described the Israa and Mi'raj as a 'fake/imaginary story'. This stirred wide anger in Egypt and the Arab world. Israa and Mi'raj marks the night that Allah [God in Islam] took the Prophet Mohammed on a miraculous journey to Mecca, Jerusalem and then to heaven.