Aswan Women's Film Festival to honor director Youssef Chahine

CAIRO – 14 December 2017: The 2018 Aswan Women's Film Festival will honor Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, 10 years after his death in a session that explores the women of his films.

The festival, now in its second edition, will run from February 20 to February 26 in Aswan. Talking to Ahram Online, festival director Mohamed Abdel Khalek stated that the festival will host a seminar titled “Women in Youssef Chahine’s Cinema.”

Chahine frequently featured women in the leads of his films and took care to highlight their issues. The seminar will include the likes of directors Yousry Nasrallah, Gaby Khoury, Sherif Mandour, Khaled Youssef and others who worked with Chahine behind the scenes.

Born on January 25, 1926 in Alexandria, Chahine has been considered one of Egypt’s greatest directors, having filmed a wide variety of films for over five decades. He debuted in 1950 with "Baba Amin" and his second film, "Son of the Nile" in 1951 was invited to participate in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Abdel Khalek, in a report for Al-Ahram online’s Arabic website, stated that "Baba Amin" already showcased strong female characters and Chahine’s interest in writing them.
“We are celebrating Chahine as one of the filmmakers that have raised Egyptian cinema to international acclaim, as well as his support for women and their issues,” Abdel Khalek stated.