NFF President: “The festival faced no censorship obstacles”

CAIRO – 30 October 2018: Director of the National Film Festival, Samir Seif, announced the participation of “Al-Masira” by Ali al-Ghazoli, competing in the documentary category in the festival’s 22nd edition, which is set to resume Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 in the Hanager Hall and Civilization Hall in the Cairo Opera House.

Seif revealed that the film was approved by the National Censorship Department, denying the existence of censorship objections to the film, which revolves around a marsh that emerged during the January 2011 revolution.

Seif affirmed that the festival did not face any censorship issues.

On the other hand, Fathi Abdel Wahab, head of the cultural development fund sector, attributed the film’s absence from the festival schedules and publications due to the delay of the film's exit from censorship.

Abdel Wahab pointed out that it is not the only film delayed because of the censor board’s pressures.

Abdel Wahab confirmed that this will be corrected through the festival program.
The Cinema Hall of the Creativity Center witnessed on Sunday evening a press conference to announce the details of the festival, which ends on November 4, while the closing ceremony will be held on November 13, in order to avoid lacking attendance at the upcoming youth conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Fathi Abdel Wahab asserted that changes will be made to the festival in upcoming years, including to its date.

In the festival’s closure, numerous names including a group of film stars such as Hussein Fahmy, Nadia el-Gendy, director and critic Sayed Saeed, director of photography Mahmoud Abdel Samie, Enayat el-Sayes and producer Badr Lama.

Seventeen out of 42 films screened in 2017 are participating in the festival's feature film competition. Forty-eight films are competing for the short film awards and 35 films in the documentary and animation competitions.

The long films jury, headed by director Mohamed Abdul Aziz along with actress Soheir el-Morshidy includes Mona al-San and critic Ahmed Atef, photographer Nancy Abdel Fattah and composer Tamer Karawan.

The short film committee includes director Hani Khalifa as the president, critic Safa al-Leithi, Mervat Abu Auf, Nabil el-Matini and critic Mohamed Nas.