by Mahmoud Fouly
ASWAN, Egypt, March 6 (Xinhua) -- On the bank of the Nile River, Upper Egypt's charming city of Aswan is hosting this week the seventh edition of the Aswan International Women Film Festival (AIWFF) that seeks to shed further light on women's causes and rights.
Sixty feature, short, animated, and documentary films from different countries including Egypt, Algeria, France, Switzerland, Argentina, South Korea, Bulgaria and Latvia take part in the competitions of the AIWFF that runs from March 5 to 10.
The festival's founder and president, screenwriter Mohamed Abdel-Khalek, said at a red-carpet gala on Saturday evening that holding the festival in such difficult economic conditions was a challenge, hoping that "imagination would overcome economic conditions" in this AIWFF version.
The festival's activities include symposiums, lectures and filmmaking workshops for young people in Aswan, who managed through training in past editions to make qualified films that competed in Arab international film festivals.
Egyptian 40-minute short feature film Sara's Birthday, produced by Plan International Egypt and the National Council for Women and directed by Yasser Shafiey, was screened as the opening film of the festival.
Fatima Nouali, president of the Casablanca Arab Film Festival and a jury member at the Egyptian film competition of AIWFF, said that this opportunity will allow her to watch various new Egyptian films, some of which might be picked to be screened at her festival in Morocco.
"The role of women is very important in society and cinema is a reflection of society, so it is very important to have festivals concerned with women's causes and films," Egyptian actress Bushra Rozza told Xinhua.
In the opening ceremony attended by the Egyptian culture minister and the governor of Aswan, the festival honored a number of filmmakers and stars, including Egyptian veteran movie star Nabila Ebeid, Spanish actress Cuca Escribano, Tunisian filmmaker Salma Baccar and Dutch filmmaker Mijke de Jong.
"I mainly make films about women - brave women, lonely women and beautiful women. I think it's very important to hear women's voices," De Jong said.
The festival is held with the support of the Egyptian ministries of culture, tourism and social solidarity and in partnership with the European Union delegation to Egypt.
Since its first edition in 2017, AIWFF has established itself as a "window" drawing the features of the worlds of Egyptian and Arab women, said Egyptian Culture Minister Neveen El-Kilany in her remarks during the opening ceremony.
